Bible Strands
Hosea 13:6
When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel through the prophet Hosea, recounting His past provision in the wilderness before announcing imminent judgment. The prophet speaks to the northern kingdom as they transition from desert dependence to settled abundance.
The words — The Hebrew marʿîṯām (pasture) and śāḇaʿû (they were satisfied) describe a physical fullness that triggers spiritual decline. The phrase ʿal-ken (therefore/as a result) links this satisfaction directly to their pride and subsequent forgetting of God.
The thread — This pattern of prosperity breeding forgetfulness appears in Deuteronomy 8:12 and 32:13, where abundance in the promised land similarly threatens covenant loyalty. The immediate context in Hosea 13:5–7 frames this forgetfulness as the direct cause of Yahweh’s predatory judgment.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that material provision does not guarantee spiritual faithfulness. It requires readers to examine whether their own satisfaction leads to self-reliance or to the recognition of their source.
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
According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,
- Deuteronomy 8:12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,
- Deuteronomy 6:10 And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,
- Deuteronomy 32:18 You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
- Nehemiah 9:35 For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.
- Psalms 10:4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.
- Nehemiah 9:25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.
- Isaiah 17:10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
- Jeremiah 2:31 You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’?
- Hosea 2:13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them, when she adorned herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,” declares the LORD.