Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 13:4
Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no savior beside me.
4. Yet I am the Lord thy God ] Hosea persistently refuses to recognize that the god whom the Israelites worship is really Israel’s God, Jehovah. The use of an idolatrous symbol has so unspiritualized the object of their worship that the mere retention of the name Jehovah gives them no claim upon Hosea’s sympathy. The prophet therefore introduces Jehovah as expostulating with the Israelites for the abandonment of their hereditary religion.
thou shalt know no god but me ] Rather, thou knowest, &c.; the experience of history bore witness to Jehovah’s help, and his alone. Comp. Deu 32:12. Hosea however does not deny the existence of other gods besides Jehovah; only their equality to Him in power. It was only by degrees that the truth involved in the revelation of Jehovah was fully realized. See Introduction.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Yet – , (literally, and) I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt God was still the same God who had sheltered them with His providence, ever since He had delivered them from Egypt. He had the same power and will to help them. Therefore their duty was the same, and their destruction arose, not from any change in Him, but from themselves. God is the God of the ungodly, by creation and general providence.
And thou shalt – (i. e., oughtest to) know no God but Me, for (literally, and) there is not a Saviour but me To be God and Lord and Saviour are incommunicable properties of God. Wherefore God often claimed these titles to Himself, from the time He revealed Himself to Israel. In the song of Moses, which they were commanded to rehearse, He says, See now that I, I am He, and there is no God with Me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand Deu 32:39. Isaiah repeats this same, Is there a God besides Me? yea there is no God; I know not any Isa 44:8; and There is no God else besides Me, a just God and a Saviour; there is none else. Look unto Me and be ye saved, for I am God and there is none else Isa 45:21, Isa 45:2; and, I am the Lord, that is My Name; and My glory will I not give to another; neither My praise to graven images Isa 42:8. : That God and Saviour is Christ; God, because He created; Saviour, because, being made Man, He saved. Whence He willed to be called Jesus, i. e., Saviour. Truly beside Him, there is no Saviour; neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved Act 4:12. It is not enough to recognize in God this quality of a Saviour. It must not be shared with any other. Whoso associates with God any power whatever to decide on mans salvation makes an idol, and introduces a new God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. I am the Lord thy God] This was the first discovery I made of myself to you, and the first commandment I gave; and I showed you that besides me there was no Saviour. There is a remarkable addition in the Septuagint here: “But I am Jehovah thy God, who stretched out the heavens and created the earth. And I showed them not to thee, that thou shouldest walk after them. And I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,” &c. This might have been once in the Hebrew text.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Yet, though thou hast so revolted, and chosen other gods, it is not occasioned by any change in me,
I am what I was,
the Lord, the mighty God, the everlasting God, Jehovah. Thy God from the land of Egypt; thy God who alone brought thee out of Egypt, and who hath maintained thy lot; the calves and Baal were not known amongst you then. And since I alone brought thee out of Egypt, and saved thee with wonderful salvations many times since, why dost thou seek gods thou needest not, gods that cannot help?
Thou shalt know no god but me; I forbade thee to know any other god but me, in gratitude thou shouldst know no other; if there were any other, in point of interest thou shouldst have known, i.e. worshipped, trusted, and obeyed, none but me. And finally, by woeful experience thou shalt know that calves and Baal are no gods, they cannot save thee nor themselves; thou shalt know I am God alone, who can destroy those who would not obey me.
For there no saviour beside me; when thy idols cannot save thee out of the hands of those I deliver thee up to, then thou shalt see, what now thou wilt not, that there is no saviour but me; none who can deliver from all evil, and who can enrich with all blessings, who can pardon sin and save the sinner.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. (Hos 12:9;Isa 43:11).
no saviourtemporal aswell as spiritual.
besides me (Isa45:21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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” b; 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.
b “non novisti, [vel] cognovisti”, Liveleus, Drusius, Rivet.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“And yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt hither; and thou knowest no God beside me, and there is no helper beside me. Hos 13:5. I knew thee in the desert, in the land of burning heats.” As in Hos 12:10, a contrast is drawn here again between the idolatry of the people and the uninterrupted self-attestation of Jehovah to the faithless nation. From Egypt hither Israel has known no other God than Jehovah, i.e., has found no other God to be a helper and Saviour. Even in the desert He knew Israel, i.e., adopted it in love. , to know, when applied to God, is an attestation of His love and care (compare Amo 3:2; Isa 58:3, etc.). The . . , from , Arab. lab , med. Vav, to thirst, signifies burning heat, in which men famish with thirst (for the fact, compare Deu 8:15).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet now repeats the sentence which we have noticed in the last chapter for the sake of amplifying the sin of the people. For had they never known sound doctrine, had they never been brought up in the law, there would have been some colour for alleviating their fault; because they might have excused themselves by saying, that as they had never known true religion, they had gone astray according to the common practice of men; but as they had from infancy been taught sound doctrine, as God had brought them up as it were in his own bosom, as they had learned from their first years what it was to worship God purely, when they thus retook themselves to the superstitions of the heathens, what could there be for an excuse for them? We then see the bearing of the complaint, when God says, that he had been the God of Israel from the land of Egypt
I am then, he says, Jehovah your God. By calling himself Jehovah, he glances at all their fictitious gods; as though he said “I am doubtless justly, and in mine own rights your God; for I am of myself — I am the Creator of the world, no one can take away my power: but whence have these their divinity, except from the madness of men?” He says further, I am thy God, O Israel; that is, “I have manifested myself to thee from the land of Egypt, from thy very nativity. When I redeemed thee from Egypt I brought thee out as it were from the womb to the light of life; for Egypt was to thee like the grave. Thou didst then begin to live, and to be some sort of people, when I stretched forth my hand to thee.”
And now also ought to be noticed what I have said before, that the people were redeemed on this condition, that they should devote themselves wholly to God. As we are at this day Christ’s, and no one of us ought to live according to his own will, for Christ died and rose again for this end, that he might be the Lord of the living and of the dead: so also then, the Israelites had been redeemed by God, that they might offer themselves wholly to Him. And since God ruled by this right over the people of Israel, how shameful and inexcusable was their defections when the people wilfully abandoned themselves to the superstitions of the Gentiles?
A God, he says, besides me thou oughtest not to know These words the Prophet had not before used. This sentence, then, is fuller, for it more clearly explains the import of what he had said, that God had purchased Israel for himself by bringing them out of Egypt, and that is, that Israel ought to have been content with this one Redeemer, and not to seek for themselves other gods. A God, then, besides me thou shalt not know. For if this one God was sufficient for redeeming his people, what do the people now mean, when they wander, and seek aid here and there? For they ought to render to God the life received from him, which they now enjoy, and ought to acknowledge to be sufficiently safe under his protection. We now then see why this was added, Thou shalt not know a God besides me
A reason, confirmatory of this, follows: For no one, he says, is a Saviour except me The copulative ו, vau, ought to be regarded here as a causative, For no one, etc., or, Surely no one is a Saviour except me. And this is a remarkable passage; for we learn that the worship of God does not consist in words, but in faith, and hope, and prayer. The Papists of the present day think that they do not profane the worship of God, though they fly to statues, though they pray to dead men, though they look here and there for the accomplishment of their hopes. How so? Because they ever retain the only true God, that is, they do not ascribe the name of God to Christopher or to Antony. The Papists think themselves free from all blame, since God retains his own name. But we see how differently the matter is regarded by the Lord. “I am,” he says, “the only true God.” How is this? “Because I am the only Saviour: feign not to thyself another God, for thou shalt find none that will save thee.” Then God puts an especial value on the honour that is due to him from hope and prayer; that is, when our soul recumbs on him alone, and when we seek and hope for salvation from no other but from him. We see then how useful is the doctrine contained in this passage, in which the Prophet clearly shows, that the Israelites acted absurdly and shamefully when they formed another god for themselves, for no Saviour, except the one true God, can be found.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hos. 13:4. Yet] Another contrast between the idolatry of Israel and the mercy of God to them (cf. Hos. 12:10).
HOMILETICS
GOD THE ONLY SAVIOUR.Hos. 13:4
The people may be worthless, and driven away like smoke, but God is the same as of old. None else should be their Saviour. They should know and worship no other but Jehovah.
I. This character of God is declared in his word. Since we cannot know God but by revelation, how precious is that volume in which all manifestations of him are embodied. We are constantly reminded of his attributes and relations. The knowledge of them is of supreme consequence, and repeatedly set before us, that we may not forget. There is one God; and there is none other god but he. I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no god beside me. Thou shalt have none other gods but me. Is there a god besides me? Yea, there is no god; I know not any. I am the Lord, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another; neither my praise to graven images.
II. This character of God is displayed in his providence. The Lord thy God from the land of Egypt. Israel are not only reminded of Gods revelations previously given, but of his character displayed in his providence towards them. The events of their history are briefly stated, and their own experience testifies to the truth of Gods word. He had guided and provided for them unceasingly, and saved when there was no strange God among them. Men have abundant proofs in their own lives that God alone can save. In sickness and distress, in domestic and national history, the goodness of God has been displayed. The sinner and the saint have been delivered from dangers, and can declare this. Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me?
III. In proportion as we know this character of God are we obligated to him. Thou shalt know no God but me. It is not enough to acknowledge God as a Saviour. His claims and glory must not be shared with another. He has natural and moral rights over us. We owe duties and homage to him. We must evince our belief, and express our regard, by constant obedience to his law, studious efforts to do and delight in his will, in enjoyments and sufferings, and recognizing his presence in his word, providence, and grace. We are forbidden to indulge in atheism, polytheism, and idolatry. We must know and fear God only. We must love and serve him, with all our heart, soul, and strength.
NO SAVIOUR BESIDE GOD.Hos. 13:4
There is no Saviour beside me.
I. What the words imply. That God is
1. A powerful Saviour, proved from the nature of redemption and the events of providence. No sins can limit his grace, no enemy baffle his skill. Save to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25).
2. A constant Saviour. Present with Israel in Egypt, the wilderness, and the land of Canaan. Present with us in every time of need.
3. An only Saviour. No other could do what he did for Israel. No other can pardon our sins, renew our hearts, and save our souls. There is salvation in none other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
II. What the words forbid. They forbid
1. The worship of images. We are not to make any likeness of things in heaven above, earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. God is the object of supreme worship and affection; incapable of representation to the senses, like false deities of men.
2. The worship of God by images. We dishonour God when we attempt to worship him in gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and mans device (Act. 17:29).
3. All hypocrisy and formality in worship. Excessive use of forms and ceremonies is forbidden. God is a spirit, and all worship must be in spirit and in truth. Is he the only Saviour? Then let us thank him and trust him more. In private and in public, let us earnestly and constantly look to him. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 13
Hos. 13:4. Thy God. The claims of God are enforced by reference to that particular event by which the Hebrews were separated from the nations, to remind them, and the world by them, that the character of God is displayed in the agency of his providence, and that in proportion to our knowledge of that character are our obligations to him. Each individual is here addressed, that each may feel that he has means of knowing, and constantly surrounded with motives for personally loving God.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(4) The LXX. have an addition which was not found by Jerome in any Hebrew copy of his day, and was pronounced by him to be spurious: I am the Lord thy God, that establisheth the heavens and createth the earth, whose hands have fashioned all the host of heaven; but I did not show them to thee that thou shouldest go after them, and I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know, &c.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4-8. Love Ingratitude Destruction. The conduct of Israel was the more shocking because Jehovah had always proved himself ready to be their helper and friend.
I am Jehovah Here the emphasis is upon the assistance rendered by Jehovah to Israel throughout their entire history (compare Hos 12:9).
Thou shalt know Better, R.V. margin, “knowest.” The prophet appeals to present and past experiences.
No god but me Israel found no god able to help and to save besides the one who delivered them out of Egypt; the entire history revealed him and him alone as saviour and friend. Indeed, there is no other deliverer. How serious has been the mistake of the people (Hos 2:5 ff.).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Yet I am YHWH your God,
From the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no god but me,
And besides me there is no saviour’.
And yet this should not have happened. It need not have happened. What they had overlooked was that He was unique. He was YHWH their God. He was the One Who had delivered them from bondage in Egypt, He was the One Who had declared that they should have no other God instead of Him, and He was the only One Who could save men from whatever came against them. If only they had trusted in Him even Assyria could have done nothing to them. For He was the only, true and wholly capable Saviour.
Indeed if only they had realised it, they had been especially favoured. No other nation had had a God like Him. None other than their God could have brought them out of Egypt. None other could have brought them through the wilderness. None other could have given them the land. None other could always guarantee to save, no matter who was involved, and whatever the circumstances. This has been proved time and again, for He was unique in history. He was the Creator, the Controller of history, the sovereign over all things. He was the Lord.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 13:4. Yet I am, &c. For I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: And thou shalt see that there is no other God but me, nor any Saviour beside me. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1173
JEHOVAH ALONE DESERVING OF OUR FEAR OR CONFIDENCE
Hos 13:4. Thou shalt know no God but me: for there is no Saviour beside me.
IN the Holy Scriptures, every kind of argument is urged that is proper to influence the minds of men: sometimes we are persuaded by the terrors of the Lord, and sometimes are allured by his exceeding great and precious promises. A difference is observed towards men differently disposed, and differently circumstanced: towards some, compassion is exercised in all its gentlest forms; whilst others are saved with fear, and snatched out of the fire with a kind of compulsive violence. But it not unfrequently happens, that where the obstinacy of men is such as almost to preclude a hope of prevailing with them, both the kinds of argument are combined, in order, if possible, by either, or by both, to overcome the obdurate soul. Thus, in the passage before us, the prophet, having represented the ten tribes as increasingly shameless in their idolatries, declares from God, that they shall pass away like the morning cloud, or early dew, and that, like chaff from a threshing-floor, or smoke from a chimney, they shall be scattered as with a whirlwind over the face of the whole earth [Note: ver. 2, 3.]. But still, as though God repented of denouncing so heavy a judgment against them, he addresses them with tender pity; Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt know no god before me; for there is no Saviour beside me: that is, I can never forget the relation which I bear towards thee; and I am as willing as ever to bestow on thee all the blessings of salvation, if only thou wilt banish from thee those rivals which have provoked me to jealousy.
In these words there are two things to be noticed:
I.
The command
In its primary and literal sense, it refers to the putting away of their molten images which they had made to worship. But the terms used are nearly the same as those by which the first commandment in the Decalogue is expressed; and therefore we must consider them as extending also to the idolatry of the heart. Indeed, idolatry is, as St. Paul expresses it, a worshipping and serving of the creature more than the Creator, who is God over all, blessed for ever [Note: Rom 1:25.]: and consequently, we are here forbidden to pay to any creature that regard which is due to God alone, or to make it the chief object of,
1.
Our love
[In a subordinate way we may love the creature, but not so as to put it in competition with God. There is nothing in the whole universe which we should desire, or seek, in comparison of Him; nor any thing which we should not willingly part with, rather than offend him The state of our minds towards God should be like that of David, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee [Note: Psa 73:25.]. To make pleasure, or riches, or honour, or any thing but God, our chief good, is idolatry [Note: Php 3:19. Whose god is their belly. Col 3:5. Covetousness, which is idolatry.].]
2.
Our fear
[Scarcely do any begin to fear God, but their acknowledgment of him is retarded by the fear of man. Those who were never ashamed of sin, and who were wont to commit all manner of iniquity with greediness, are filled with apprehensions lest their change of sentiment should be discovered, and they should be called to suffer reproach or persecution for the Lords sake. But all such fear argues a forgetfulness of God [Note: Isa 51:12-13,], who alone is worthy to be feared [Note: Luk 12:4-5. Isa 8:12-13.] If we regard God as we ought to do, our answer to every cowardly thought will be, The Lord is my strength and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid [Note: Psa 27:1.]?]
3.
Our confidence
[When trials of any kind arise, we almost universally turn our eyes to the creature, rather than to God: either we look to our own wisdom and energy to deliver us, or to the favour and exertion of our fellow-creatures: we can scarcely ever realize the thought of a superintending Providence, who is able and willing to interpose for us: we are apt rather to imagine, that it would be an insult to the Most High to suppose that he will trouble himself about such trifling concerns as ours. In like manner, if our trials be of a spiritual nature, we look to our own wisdom to guide us, our own righteousness to justify us, and our own strength to obtain for us the victory over all our spiritual enemies. But in all this, we greatly dishonour God, in whom should be all our trust for body and for soul, for time and for eternity [Note: Psa 11:1; Psa 11:4.] In all such creature-confidence we manifest an entire departure of heart from God, and subject ourselves to his just and heavy displeasure [Note: Jer 17:5-6.].]
The equity of this command is strongly marked in,
II.
The reason with which it is enforced
Though God might well require obedience on the sole ground of his own authority, yet he is graciously pleased to assign a reason for this command; a reason, which, whilst it evinces the equity of the command, shews how deeply we are interested in obeying it. There is nothing besides God that can save us,
1.
In this world
[Suppose that all the wealth and honour that ever were possessed by man were centred in one person, would they ward off the incursions of disease, or repel the assaults of death? Would they even secure their own continuance, so that they should not speedily give way to poverty and disgrace? In the event of any great reverse of circumstances, will those perishing vanities assuage the anguish of a broken bone, or calm the tempest of a troubled spirit? Will a guilty conscience be quieted by them, or death be divested of its sting? Disease and death have no respect of persons; nor will peace of mind be procured by high-sounding titles, or great possessions. It is God alone that can avert trouble, or sanctify it to our good. He can keep us unhurt, when thousands are falling on our right hand, and on our left: or if he see fit to send us tribulation, he can enable us to rejoice and glory in it: and as for death, he has numbered it among the treasures of his people, whom he enables to long for it, that they may be with Christ, in complete and everlasting felicity If then we look only to our happiness in this present life, who can bear a comparison with Jehovah, as the source of it to those who trust in him?]
2.
In the world to come
[If the vanities of time and sense can do nothing for us in this present life, how much less can they in the life to come! There they cannot so much as purchase for us a drop of water to cool our tongue. But O! what a Saviour will Jehovah be! yea, what crowns and kingdoms will he bestow on his believing and obedient people! Behold the Rich Man stripped of all his transient joys, and plunged into that abyss of misery which once he despised! Behold, on the other hand, the once destitute and neglected Lazarus in the bosom of his God! Which of the two had chosen the better part; he who had walked in the ways of this world, and made Mammon his god; or he who had sought Jehovah as his God and portion? Truly, one glance of the celestial world is quite sufficient to evince the reasonableness of the injunction given us in our text ]
This subject may be improved,
1.
For our conviction
[It is an awful truth, that instead of preferring God before every thing, we have preferred every thing before him. Only let us compare the anxiety we have felt about created objects, with that which we have felt in reference to God, and we shall need no further evidence of our being idolaters in the sight of God. What then have we reason to expect at his hands, in the day when he shall judge the world? Let us not judge of ourselves by some of the grosser sins which are injurious to society, but by those which strike at the honour and authority of God. Then we shall see, that, instead of being a Saviour to us, we have reason to fear lest he arise and plead his own cause, and become an avenger of his own insulted Majesty.]
2.
For our consolation
[If we take Jehovah for our God, there is not any good thing which we may not expect at his hands. The declaration that there is no Saviour beside him, is, in fact, an assurance, that he will be a Saviour to us, and do for us more than the whole universe can do. We may view salvation in all its bearings, and in its utmost extent; and then say All this will my God be to me; all this he will do for me. We cannot possibly raise our expectations too high; for he will do exceeding abundantly for us above all that we can ask or think: nor need it be any grief to us that there is no Saviour besides him; for we shall want no other: He is almighty, and will be all-sufficient ]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Whoever reads the history of Israel, and observes the Lord’s kindness, and carefulness over that people, will enter into the beauty and grace here described, of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness. See Deu 32:7-14 . But, Reader! who that reads that history with an eye to Christ; and considers the whole of Israel’s eventful pilgrimage as a type and shadow of the Lord Jesus watching over his redeemed, in leading them from the Egypt of sin, to the Canaan of redemption and glory; but must forget everything of Israel after the flesh, to look with wonder and amazement to the Israel of God after the Spirit! And, Reader! to advance one step higher in the subject of meditation, who that is enabled by the divine teaching of God the Holy Ghost, and by his regenerating grace on the soul, to read the mysterious subject, and discover his own personal interest in it, as it concerns himself; but must feel his soul overwhelmed in the contemplation, and feel constrained to cry out with the astonished disciple; Lord! how is it that thou hast manifested thyself unto me, and not unto the world? Joh 14:22 . David, under the impression of distinguishing grace, cried out; I am as a wonder unto me! And every child of God feels that he is a world of wonders in himself!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hos 13:4 Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside me.
Ver. 4. Yet I am the Lord thy God, &c. ] Yet for all the sorrow; and though I thus threaten thee: “for since I spake against thee, I do earnestly remember thee still,” &c., Jer 31:20 . It is easy to observe all along this chapter, an interchange of menaces and mercies, as in the preceding verse and this, so Hos 13:8-9 ; Hos 13:13-14 ; Hos 13:16 ; Hos 14:1 , to show how soon the Lord repents him of the evil, and how ready to show mercy to the worst that return. If men could but find a penitent heart, he would easily find a pitying heart; like as David would have been friends with Absalom after all the unkindness, would he have been but better at last. To reduce Ephraim it was, that this chapter, like checquer work, is made up of promises and threatenings; that the tartness of the one might make him the better to taste the sweetness of the other.
Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt
And thou shalt know no God but me
For there is no Saviour beside me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Hos 13:4-8
4Yet I have been the LORD your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know any god except Me,
For there is no savior besides Me.
5I cared for you in the wilderness,
In the land of drought.
6As they had their pasture, they became satisfied,
And being satisfied, their heart became proud;
Therefore they forgot Me.
7So I will be like a lion to them;
Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.
8I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open their chests;
There I will also devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them.
Hos 13:4 Yet I have been the LORD your
God Since the land of Egypt This is how YHWH introduced His Ten Commandments (cf. Exo 20:2; Deu 5:6). This again is a reference to the Exodus as the courtship and marriage time between God and Israel (cf. Hos 13:5; Hos 2:14; Hos 9:10; Hos 12:9).
you were not to know any god except Me This phrase is in the Ten Commandments (cf. Exo 20:3; Deu 5:7). The VERB (BDB 393, KB 390, Qal IMPERFECT) implies intimate, personal relationship (BDB 446, KB 448, Hiphil PARTICIPLES, e.g., Isa 43:3; Isa 43:11; Isa 43:14; Isa 45:15; Isa 45:21-22; Isa 63:8).
For there is no savior besides Me YHWH was the only One and the only Redeemer (BDB 446, KB 448, Hiphil PARTICIPLE, e.g., Isa 43:3; Isa 43:11; Isa 43:14; Isa 45:15; Isa 45:21-22; Isa 63:8). See Special Topic: Monotheism .
Hos 13:5 I cared for you in the wilderness The VERB (BDB 393, KB 390, Qal PERFECT) is literally to know (i.e., meaning chosen and given special knowledge of YHWH). God’s special care of Israel showed His love (cf. Deu 32:10-14).
The ancient Greek and Syriac translations have feed (BDB 944) instead of cared.
NASB, NRSVIn the land of drought
NKJVin the land of great drought
TEVdesert land
NJBin a land of dreadful drought
This CONSTRUCT means intense heat and dryness. It is a way of alluding to YHWH’s supernatural provision of water during the wilderness wandering period (e.g., Exo 15:22-26; Exo 17:1-7; Num 20:2-13; Num 21:16; Deu 32:10-14).
Hos 13:6 What a tragedy! God’s blessings (satisfied [twice] BDB 959, KB 1302, the first Qal IMPERFECT and the second Qal PERFECT) turned into self-centered pride and spiritual fatness (cf. Deu 6:10-12; Deu 8:11-20; Deu 32:13-15).
Therefore they forgot Me Here is the tragedy. They took the physical, but missed the truly valuablea personal relationship with the only Creator, Redeemer God (cf. Hos 2:13; Hos 4:6; Hos 8:14; Deu 8:14; Deu 31:16; Deu 31:20; Deu 32:15; Deu 32:18; Jdg 10:6).
Hos 13:7-8 These are references to wild animals as metaphors of God’s judgment: lion, leopard, bear, and lioness (e.g., Jer 2:15; Jer 4:7; Jer 5:6; Psa 7:2; Psa 50:22). This animal attack contrasts the shepherding imagery of Hos 13:6.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Yet I, &c. Supply the connecting thought: “[Ye worship these calves], yet I, even I”. &c. Compare Hos 12:9. Isa 43:11.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
from the land of Egypt. Supply the Ellipsis (App-6); “[Who brought thee out] from”, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 20:2, Exo 20:3).
shalt know no: i.e. didst not, or oughtest not to know.
there is no saviour, &c. Compare Isa 43:11; Isa 45:21. Supply: “no saviour [was there] beside Me”. Compare Act 4:12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I am: Hos 12:9, Exo 20:2, Psa 81:9, Psa 81:10, Isa 43:3, Isa 43:10, Isa 44:6-8
for: Isa 43:11-13, Isa 45:21, Isa 45:22, Act 4:12
Reciprocal: Exo 14:13 – see the Rth 1:16 – thy God Psa 3:8 – Salvation Isa 63:8 – so he Jer 2:6 – brought us up Jer 3:22 – we Hos 12:13 – General Hos 13:9 – but Hos 13:10 – where 1Ti 1:1 – God Rev 7:10 – Salvation
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 13:4. From, the land of Egypt is explained at Hos 12:9. Shalt know no god but one has a twofold bearing, it denotes the commandment of the Lord and is the first of the ten commandments (Exo 20:3). It is also a prediction of the state of Israel to he manifested after the captivity. The history quoted in connection With Isa 1:25 shows that Israel was com-pletely cured of Idolatry after the captivity.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
13:4 Yet I [am] the LORD thy God {e} from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside me.
(e) He calls them to repentance, and reproves their ingratitude.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The perversity of Israel’s idolatry 13:4-8
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Yahweh had been Israel’s God since the Israelites had lived in Egypt. Israel first became a nation in Egypt. Before that the Israelites were just a large family (Gen 46:3). He had commanded the Israelites not to acknowledge any gods beside Himself because He was the only God who could save them (cf. Deu 11:28; Deu 32:17; Jer 9:2; Jer 31:34). For them to become idolaters would only be frustrating and futile. To abandon the only savior is to doom oneself to no salvation.