Bible Strands
Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks to Hosea, immediately after commanding the naming of Lo-ammi (v. 9), reversing the pronouncement of rejection in the same breath.
The words — מִסְפַּר (mis.Par), "number," carries the verse's tension: the number of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted — a number that defies its own category.
The thread — The "sons of the living God" designation echoes 2 Corinthians 6:18 ("I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters") and John 1:12, where sonship is granted to those who receive Christ.
Why it lands — The verse asks the reader to hold two declarations from the same speaker without smoothing them: "you are not My people" and "you are sons of the living God" are not a contradiction to resolve but a reversal to receive.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 6:18 And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
- Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
- John 1:12 But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—
- Romans 9:25 As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,”
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
- Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
- Isaiah 43:6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—
- Hosea 2:23 And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”
- Isaiah 66:20 And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”