Hosea 13:4

4 The LORD says, "People of Israel, I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of Egypt. You must not recognize any God but me. You must not have any Savior except 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 Now they sin more and more. They use their silver to make statues of gods for themselves. The statues come from their own clever ideas. Skilled workers make all of them. The people pray to those gods. They offer human sacrifices to them. They kiss the gods that look like calves.
3 So those people will vanish like the morning mist. They will soon disappear like the early dew. They will be like straw that the wind blows around on a threshing floor. They will be like smoke that escapes through a window.
4 The LORD says, "People of Israel, I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of Egypt. You must not recognize any God but me. You must not have any Savior except me.
5 I took care of you in the desert. It was a land of burning heat.
6 I fed you until you were satisfied. Then you became proud. You forgot all about me.
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