“Therefore, behold, I will obstruct her way with thorns, And I will build a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way.
- KJV Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
- BSB Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.
- NKJV “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths.
- NLT “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way.
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 promises to hedge the nation's path with thorns so she cannot reach her false lovers. He blocks her way as an act of severe mercy.
Overview
Rather than letting Israel pursue idols to her own ruin, God frustrates her plans by obstructing her path. This hedge of thorns is a disciplinary kindness, designed to bring her to a dead end where she will reconsider. The verse shows that God sometimes ordains hardship and blocked desires to turn His people back to Himself, a restraining grace that protects them from the full harvest of their folly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Job 19:8He has walled up my way so that I can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
- Lam 3:7–9He has walled me about, that I can’t go out; he has made my chain heavy.
- Job 3:23Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
- Luke 19:43For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side,
- Luke 15:14–16When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:6 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.