The Meaning of Hosea 2:12 Explained

Hosea 2:12

KJV: And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

YLT: And made desolate her vine and her fig-tree, Of which she said, A gift they are to me, That my lovers have given to me, And I have made them for a forest, And consumed them hath a beast of the field.

Darby: And I will make desolate her vine and her fig-tree, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards which my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

ASV: And I will lay waste her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath said, These are my hire that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And I will destroy  her vines  and her fig trees,  whereof she hath said,  These [are] my rewards  that my lovers  have given  me: and I will make  them a forest,  and the beasts  of the field  shall eat  them. 

What does Hosea 2:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord would also destroy the vines and fig trees, the sources of Israel"s finest products. Israel regarded these trees as pay from her lovers, but Yahweh would turn these groves of fruit trees into wild forests, and wild beasts would destroy the trees and their fruit. This suggests that there would no longer be Israelites in the land to care for these crops (cf. Isaiah 5:5-6; Isaiah 7:23-25; Isaiah 17:9; Isaiah 32:9-14; Micah 3:12).

Context Summary

Hosea 2:1-13 - The Bitter Sin Of Wandering From God
Hosea is represented as having exhausted his expostulations upon his faithless wife. He has tried every arrow in love's quiver, but in vain; so now he sends his children, worse than motherless, to plead with their mother, before she brings upon them all irretrievable retribution.
Almost insensibly our mind passes from the pleadings of the human love to the divine Bridegroom. Often He has to erect thorn hedges about us-not that He takes pleasure in thwarting us, but that we may be diverted from ruin. There was no better method of turning Israel from her idols than by withholding that material prosperity which she thought they gave. Has not this been our experience also? Our mirth has ceased and our prosperity has vanished. We have sat amid the wrecks of a happy past. It is not that God has ceased to care for us, but that He longs to wean us back to Himself. Have we reached the point of saying, "It was better with me then than now?" Then let us be of good cheer! The dawn is already on the hills, and God's coming to us, in restoring grace, is like the breaking glory of the morning! [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 2

1  The idolatry of the people
6  God's judgments against them
14  His promises of reconciliation with them

What do the individual words in Hosea 2:12 mean?

And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees of which she has said my wages Those [are] to that have given me my lovers so I will make them a forest and shall eat them the beasts of the field
וַהֲשִׁמֹּתִ֗י גַּפְנָהּ֙ וּתְאֵ֣נָתָ֔הּ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמְרָ֗ה אֶתְנָ֥ה הֵ֙מָּה֙ לִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָֽתְנוּ־ לִ֖י מְאַֽהֲבָ֑י וְשַׂמְתִּ֣ים לְיַ֔עַר וַאֲכָלָ֖תַם חַיַּ֥ת הַשָּׂדֶֽה

וַהֲשִׁמֹּתִ֗י  And  I  will  destroy 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁמֵם  
Sense: to be desolate, be appalled, stun, stupefy.
גַּפְנָהּ֙  her  vines 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: גֶּפֶן  
Sense: vine, vine tree.
וּתְאֵ֣נָתָ֔הּ  and  her  fig  trees 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: תְּאֵנָה  
Sense: fig, fig tree.
אֲשֶׁ֣ר  of  which 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
אָמְרָ֗ה  she  has  said 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֶתְנָ֥ה  my  wages 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶתְנָה  
Sense: hire, price (of a harlot).
הֵ֙מָּה֙  Those  [are] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
אֲשֶׁ֥ר  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
נָֽתְנוּ־  have  given 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
לִ֖י  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
מְאַֽהֲבָ֑י  my  lovers 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.
וְשַׂמְתִּ֣ים  so  I  will  make  them 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular, third person masculine plural
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
לְיַ֔עַר  a  forest 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יַעַר 
Sense: forest, wood, thicket, wooded height.
וַאֲכָלָ֖תַם  and  shall  eat  them 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person feminine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
חַיַּ֥ת  the  beasts 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
הַשָּׂדֶֽה  of  the  field 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׂדֶה 
Sense: field, land.