The Meaning of Hosea 13:5 Explained

Hosea 13:5

KJV: I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

YLT: I -- I have known thee in a wilderness, In a land of droughts.

Darby: I knew thee in the wilderness, in the land of drought.

ASV: I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I did know  thee in the wilderness,  in the land  of great drought. 

What does Hosea 13:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord also was the one who cared for the Israelites in the wilderness and who kept them alive in that barren wasteland. His provisions of manna and water are only two examples.

Context Summary

Hosea 13:1-14 - To Oppose God Is Destruction
Again, a very tender chapter. The lips that speak with trembling betray the heart that God can exalt. But when we turn to Baal, the emblem of self-confidence, we pass as the morning cloud the dew, the chaff, and the smoke.
In Hosea 13:4 we again get the sweet strain of early memory. God had not changed and was waiting to save. They had refused His help and had destroyed themselves, and He who would have done His best for them had been constrained to act as though He were a lion, a leopard, or a bear. In the wilderness we are thankful enough for His help, but when we reach the land of the vine and olive, we follow the devices and desires of our own hearts.
What a magnificent outburst is that which declares the divine intention to ransom even from death and the grave! We all know the New Testament setting of these words. Our Savior by His death destroyed him that had the power of death. He is death's plague and the grave's destruction. The sting of death is sin, but Jesus has borne sin away. The strength of sin is a violated law, but He has fulfilled the law. He is more than conqueror, and the soul that is one with Him shall share His triumph. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 13

1  Ephraim's glory vanishes
4  God's anger
9  God's mercy
15  The judgment of Samaria

What do the individual words in Hosea 13:5 mean?

I knew you in the wilderness in the land of great drought
אֲנִ֥י יְדַעְתִּ֖יךָ בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר בְּאֶ֖רֶץ תַּלְאֻבֽוֹת

יְדַעְתִּ֖יךָ  knew  you 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular, second person masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר  in  the  wilderness 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִדְבָּר 
Sense: wilderness.
בְּאֶ֖רֶץ  in  the  land 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
תַּלְאֻבֽוֹת  of  great  drought 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: תַּלְאֻבֹות  
Sense: drought.