I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
Parallel translations
- WEB I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
- BSB I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.
- NKJV I knew you in the wilderness, In the land of great drought.
- NASB I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.
- NLT I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God personally knew and cared for Israel in the harsh wilderness. It recalls his faithful, intimate provision in their time of need.
Overview
To "know" here means to acknowledge, care for, and enter into covenant relationship. God sustained Israel in a land of drought where they could not survive on their own. This reminder of grace heightens the guilt of a people who would forget the God who kept them alive.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 32:10He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
- Deut 8:15Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
- Deut 2:7For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
- Gal 4:9But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
- Ps 142:3When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.
- Ps 63:1O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
- Nah 1:7The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
- Exod 2:25And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
- Jer 2:6Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
- Jer 2:2Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
- Ps 31:7I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
- 1 Cor 8:3But if any man love God, the same is known of him.
- Ps 1:6For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.
How Hosea 13:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.