The Meaning of Hosea 2:13 Explained

Hosea 2:13

KJV: And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.

YLT: And I have charged on her the days of the Baalim, To whom she maketh perfume, And putteth on her ring and her ornament, And goeth after her lovers, And Me forgat -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

Darby: And I will visit upon her the days of the Baals, wherein she burned incense to them, and decked herself with her rings and jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith Jehovah.

ASV: And I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, unto which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith Jehovah.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And I will visit  upon her the days  of Baalim,  wherein she burned incense  to them, and she decked  herself with her earrings  and her jewels,  and she went  after  her lovers,  and forgat  me, saith  the LORD. 

What does Hosea 2:13 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh would also punish Israel for observing sacred days in honor of the Baals and offering sacrifices to them. "Baal" means "lord." The Canaanites considered that there were many local representations (Baals) of the one deity (Baal). The Israelites had worshipped at many different shrines to Baal-they had pursued the Baals-as a harlot pursues many lovers. Israel had gotten dressed up to impress her idols and to celebrate these occasions, but she had forgotten Yahweh, in the sense that she had refused to acknowledge Him (cf. Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 8:11; Judges 3:7; 1 Samuel 12:9-10; Psalm 78:9-11; Jeremiah 23:27).

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 2:13 mean?

And I will punish her - for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense to them and she decked herself with her earrings and jewelry and went after her lovers but Me she forgot says Yahweh -
וּפָקַדְתִּ֣י עָלֶ֗יהָ אֶת־ יְמֵ֤י הַבְּעָלִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תַּקְטִ֣יר לָהֶ֔ם וַתַּ֤עַד נִזְמָהּ֙ וְחֶלְיָתָ֔הּ וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ אַחֲרֵ֣י מְאַהֲבֶ֑יהָ וְאֹתִ֥י שָׁכְחָ֖ה נְאֻם־ יְהוָֽה פ

וּפָקַדְתִּ֣י  And  I  will  punish 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: פָּקַד 
Sense: to attend to, muster, number, reckon, visit, punish, appoint, look after, care for.
עָלֶ֗יהָ  her 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
יְמֵ֤י  for  the  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַבְּעָלִים֙  of  the  Baals 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: בַּעַל  
Sense: supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites.
אֲשֶׁ֣ר  to  which 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
תַּקְטִ֣יר  she  burned  incense 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: מֻקְטָר 
Sense: .
לָהֶ֔ם  to  them 
Parse: Preposition-l, Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
וַתַּ֤עַד  and  she  decked  herself 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: עָדָה 
Sense: to pass on, advance, go on, pass by, remove.
נִזְמָהּ֙  with  her  earrings 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: נֶזֶם  
Sense: ring, nose ring, earring.
וְחֶלְיָתָ֔הּ  and  jewelry 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: חֶלְיָה  
Sense: jewels, jewelry.
וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ  and  went 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אַחֲרֵ֣י  after 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
מְאַהֲבֶ֑יהָ  her  lovers 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.
וְאֹתִ֥י  but  Me 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Direct object marker, first person common singular
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
שָׁכְחָ֖ה  she  forgot 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: כָּשַׁח 
Sense: to forget, ignore, wither.
נְאֻם־  says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
יְהוָֽה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation