Bible Strands
Hosea 14:4
I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Israel in direct response to their confession in verse 3, where they renounce their idols and acknowledge Him as the one who shows compassion to the fatherless.
The words — רָפָא (rapha, H7495) is a medical term, "to heal," applied here to apostasy (שׁוּבָה, shuvah, H4878), treating moral failure as a wound rather than a mere legal violation. נְדָבָה (nedavah, H5071) means "voluntariness," marking the love as unearned and uncoerced.
The thread — Isaiah 57:18 and Jeremiah 3:22 both pair God's healing language with the people's waywardness; Isaiah 12:1 echoes the turned-away anger.
Why it lands — The verse is a response to a specific confession (14:3), so the healing follows the turning rather than preceding it. It asks the reader to see repentance as the condition that unlocks what God has already chosen to give freely.
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
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 57:18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
- Jeremiah 3:22 “Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.
- Isaiah 12:1 In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.
- Ephesians 2:4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
- Hosea 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Exodus 15:26 saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
- Psalms 78:38 And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.
- Jeremiah 5:6 Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous.
- Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?