Limitless Word
I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing.
Hosea 8:12 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
  • BSB Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
  • NKJV I have written for him the great things of My law, But they were considered a strange thing.
  • NASB Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My Law, They are regarded as a strange thing.
  • NLT Even though I gave them all my laws, they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.

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

Though God wrote His abundant law for them, they treated it as something foreign and strange.

Overview

God gave Israel the rich instruction of His law, yet they regarded it as alien and irrelevant. Their estrangement from the very word meant to guide them reveals the depth of their apostasy. This neglect of Scripture stands as a warning, for God's word is to be treasured and obeyed, and is ultimately fulfilled and honored in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Deut 4:6–8Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
  • Rom 7:12Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
  • Ezek 20:11I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.
  • Prov 22:20Haven’t I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,
  • Rom 3:1Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?
  • Isa 30:9For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear Yahweh’s law;
  • Jer 6:16–17Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
  • Ps 50:17since you hate instruction, and throw my words behind you?
  • Ps 119:18Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of your law.
  • Ps 147:19–20He shows his word to Jacob; his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
  • Neh 9:13–14“You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments,
  • 2 Kgs 17:15–16They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom Yahweh had commanded them that they should not do like them.
  • Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
  • Neh 9:26“Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 8:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 8:12 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.