Bible Strands
Hosea 14:5
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel in Hosea 14 immediately after declaring that His anger has turned away and He will heal their apostasy. He speaks as the covenant Lord promising restoration following their return.
The words — The verse hinges on אֶהְיֶ֤ה ('eh.Yeh) = I will be and כַ/טַּל֙ (kha./Tal) = like the/ dew, establishing God as the source of life-giving moisture rather than a distant observer.
The thread — The imagery of taking root and blossoming reappears in Isaiah 27:6, where Jacob takes root and Israel buds, while Ephesians 3:17 applies the rooted metaphor to believers grounded in love.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that spiritual vitality depends entirely on God's provision, not human effort. It requires the reader to accept restoration as a gift received through reliance on His sustaining presence.
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 be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 35:2 It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.
- Isaiah 27:6 In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.
- Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,
- Matthew 6:28 And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.
- Job 29:19 My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
- Isaiah 26:19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
- Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- Micah 5:7 Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind.
- Deuteronomy 32:2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.
- 2 Samuel 23:4 is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’