Limitless Word
I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
Hosea 8:12 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded 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 nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
  • Rom 7:12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
  • Ezek 20:11And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
  • Prov 22:20Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
  • Rom 3:1What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
  • Isa 30:9That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
  • Jer 6:16–17Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
  • Ps 50:17Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.
  • Ps 119:18Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
  • Ps 147:19–20He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
  • Neh 9:13–14Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
  • 2 Kgs 17:15–16And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them.
  • Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
  • Neh 9:26Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

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.