The Meaning of Hosea 7:2 Explained

Hosea 7:2

KJV: And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.

YLT: And they do not say to their heart, That all their evil I have remembered, Now compassed them have their doings, Over-against My face they have been.

Darby: And they say not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now do their own doings encompass them; they are before my face.

ASV: And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now have their own doings beset them about; they are before my face.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And they consider  not in their hearts  [that] I remember  all their wickedness:  now their own doings  have beset them about;  they are before my face. 

What does Hosea 7:2 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Israelites apparently hoped that the Lord would not hold some of their sins against them, but He remembered all their wickedness. Their evil deeds surrounded them like a wall, so they were constantly before His eyes. They reminded Him of their sins whenever He looked in their direction.

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 7:2 mean?

And not they do consider in their hearts all their wickedness [That] I remember now have surrounded them their own deeds before My face they are
וּבַל־ יֹֽאמְרוּ֙ לִלְבָבָ֔ם כָּל־ רָעָתָ֖ם זָכָ֑רְתִּי עַתָּה֙ סְבָב֣וּם מַֽעַלְלֵיהֶ֔ם נֶ֥גֶד פָּנַ֖י הָיֽוּ

וּבַל־  And  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: בַּל 
Sense: not, hardly, else.
יֹֽאמְרוּ֙  they  do  consider 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לִלְבָבָ֔ם  in  their  hearts 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: לֵבָב  
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding.
רָעָתָ֖ם  their  wickedness 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
זָכָ֑רְתִּי  [That]  I  remember 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: זָכַר 
Sense: to remember, recall, call to mind.
עַתָּה֙  now 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
סְבָב֣וּם  have  surrounded  them 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, third person masculine plural
Root: סָבַב  
Sense: to turn, turn about or around or aside or back or towards, go about or arou nd, surround, encircle, change direction.
מַֽעַלְלֵיהֶ֔ם  their  own  deeds 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מַעֲלִיל 
Sense: deed, practice.
נֶ֥גֶד  before 
Parse: Preposition
Root: נֶגֶד  
Sense: what is conspicuous, what is in front of adv.
פָּנַ֖י  My  face 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
הָיֽוּ  they  are 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.