The Meaning of Hosea 7:1 Explained

Hosea 7:1

KJV: When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.

YLT: 'When I give healing to Israel, Then revealed is the iniquity of Ephraim, And the wickedness of Samaria, For they have wrought falsehood, And a thief doth come in, Stript off hath a troop in the street,

Darby: When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they practise falsehood; and the thief entereth in, and the troop of robbers assaileth without.

ASV: When I would heal Israel, then is the iniquity of Ephraim uncovered, and the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief entereth in, and the troop of robbers ravageth without.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When I would have healed  Israel,  then the iniquity  of Ephraim  was discovered,  and the wickedness  of Samaria:  for they commit  falsehood;  and the thief  cometh in,  [and] the troop  of robbers spoileth  without. 

What does Hosea 7:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord longed to heal Israel, but when He thought about doing so new evidences of her sins presented themselves. The prophets He sent to them were mainly ineffective in stemming the tide of rebellion. Most people"s reaction to their messages was rejection and further heart hardening. The people lied to one another and stole from each other. These two crimes are a synecdoche for civil and social injustices in general.

Context Summary

Hosea 7:1-16 - Iniquity Uncovered
The last clause of the previous chapter belongs to this. God desired to turn aside the captivity of His people and to heal Israel, but His pleading was unavailing because of their inveterate sin. This evil-doing witnessed against them, Hosea 7:2. Their passions did not need incitement, just as an oven retains its heat without the baker's continued attention. The royal birthday was celebrated with drunken orgies, and the national religion had become a confused mixture of Gentile superstition and the old Hebrew faith. In this Israel resembled a cake not turned-crisp on one side, sour and uneatable on the other, Hosea 7:8.
What a searching suggestion comes in Hosea 7:9! Can it be that strangers have been stealing away our strength, without our realizing that deterioration is creeping steadily through our religious life? Silently the frosty air steals the warmth from boiling water; silently the fungus pitches its tent in the autumn woods; silently old age fastens on the stalwart frame. Thus also our spiritual strength declines, unless we watch and pray; and when it ebbs away, we become foolish as the dove which flies straight into the snare, and useless as the deceitful bow which turns aside in the archer's hand, Hosea 7:11; Hosea 7:16. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 7

1  A reproof of manifold sins
11  God's wrath against them for their hypocrisy

What do the individual words in Hosea 7:1 mean?

When I would have healed Israel and was uncovered the iniquity of Ephraim and the wickedness of Samaria for they have committed fraud and a thief comes in takes spoil a band of [robbers] outside
כְּרָפְאִ֣י לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְנִגְלָ֞ה עֲוֺ֤ן אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙ וְרָע֣וֹת שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן כִּ֥י פָעֲל֖וּ שָׁ֑קֶר וְגַנָּ֣ב יָב֔וֹא פָּשַׁ֥ט גְּד֖וּד בַּחֽוּץ

כְּרָפְאִ֣י  When  I  would  have  healed 
Parse: Preposition-k, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, first person common singular
Root: רָפָא  
Sense: to heal, make healthful.
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל  Israel 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
וְנִגְלָ֞ה  and  was  uncovered 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: גָּלָה  
Sense: to uncover, remove.
עֲוֺ֤ן  the  iniquity 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: עָוֹן  
Sense: perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity.
אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙  of  Ephraim 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֶפְרַיִם  
Sense: second son of Joseph, blessed by him and given preference over first son, Manasseh.
וְרָע֣וֹת  and  the  wickedness 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
שֹֽׁמְר֔וֹן  of  Samaria 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שֹׁמְרֹון  
Sense: the region of northern Palestine associated with the northern kingdom of the 0 tribes of Israel which split from the kingdom after the death of Solomon during the reign of his son Rehoboam and were ruled by Jeroboam.
פָעֲל֖וּ  they  have  committed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: פָּעַל  
Sense: to do, make.
שָׁ֑קֶר  fraud 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֶׁקֶר  
Sense: lie, deception, disappointment, falsehood.
וְגַנָּ֣ב  and  a  thief 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: גַּנָּב  
Sense: thief.
יָב֔וֹא  comes  in 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
פָּשַׁ֥ט  takes  spoil 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: פָּשַׁט  
Sense: to strip, invade, strip off, make a dash, raid, spread out.
גְּד֖וּד  a  band  of  [robbers] 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: גְּדוּד  
Sense: a band, troop, marauding band.
בַּחֽוּץ  outside 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חוּץ  
Sense: outside, outward, street, the outside.