The Meaning of Hosea 7:12 Explained

Hosea 7:12

KJV: When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

YLT: When they go I spread over them My net, As the fowl of the heavens I bring them down, I chastise them as their company hath heard.

Darby: When they go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowl of the heavens; I will chastise them, according as their assembly hath heard.

ASV: When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the birds of the heavens; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When they shall go,  I will spread  my net  upon them; I will bring them down  as the fowls  of the heaven;  I will chastise  them, as their congregation  hath heard. 

What does Hosea 7:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh promised to bring Israel under His control and to subdue it, as when a hunter throws a net over birds. He would chasten His people in harmony with what He had earlier proclaimed to them when He gave them the Mosaic Covenant (cf. Leviticus 26:28).
"Vv8-12would appear to refer to Hoshea"s desperate, inconsistent attempts at foreign alliances. He came to power submitting to Assyrian hegemony, paying tribute, and thus preserving the central-southern portions of the nation not yet controlled by Assyria. Within a few years (i.e, sometime in the mid-720s) he stopped tribute payments to Assyria and appealed for support to a temporarily resurgent Egypt (1 [1] Kgs 2 Kings 17:2-4). This was the "mixed up" foreign policy "among the nations" ( Hosea 7:8) of a dying people ( Hosea 7:9)." [2]

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 7:12 mean?

Wherever they go I will spread on them My net like birds of the air I will bring them down I will chastise them According to what has heard their congregation -
כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר יֵלֵ֗כוּ אֶפְר֤וֹשׂ עֲלֵיהֶם֙ רִשְׁתִּ֔י כְּע֥וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם אֽוֹרִידֵ֑ם אַיְסִרֵ֕ם כְּשֵׁ֖מַע לַעֲדָתָֽם ס

כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר  Wherever 
Parse: Preposition-k, Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
יֵלֵ֗כוּ  they  go 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אֶפְר֤וֹשׂ  I  will  spread 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: פָּרַשׂ  
Sense: to spread, spread out, stretch, break in pieces.
עֲלֵיהֶם֙  on  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
רִשְׁתִּ֔י  My  net 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: רֶשֶׁת  
Sense: net.
כְּע֥וֹף  like  birds 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: עֹוף  
Sense: flying creatures, fowl, insects, birds.
הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם  of  the  air 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
אֽוֹרִידֵ֑ם  I  will  bring  them  down 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, first person common singular, third person masculine plural
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
אַיְסִרֵ֕ם  I  will  chastise  them 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, first person common singular, third person masculine plural
Root: יָסַר 
Sense: to chasten, discipline, instruct, admonish.
כְּשֵׁ֖מַע  According  to  what  has  heard 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֵׁמַע  
Sense: report, a hearing.
לַעֲדָתָֽם  their  congregation 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: עֵדָה  
Sense: congregation, gathering.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation