Bible Strands
Hosea 2:14
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Israel through the prophet Hosea at the moment of announced judgment for Baal worship and covenant forgetfulness. This declaration interrupts the punishment sequence to initiate a restorative intervention.
The words — The Hebrew מְפַתֶּ֔י/הָ (me.fa.Tei./ha) literally means "I will persuade/allure her," while עַל ('al-) functions as the preposition "to" in the phrase "speak to her."
The thread — This wilderness motif appears in Ezekiel 20:35 where God brings Israel for judgment, and Revelation 12:6 where God prepares a wilderness place for protection. Isaiah 40:1 echoes the subsequent tone of divine comfort.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that divine discipline precedes and enables renewed covenant communication. It demands an acknowledgment that restoration originates from God's initiative, not human merit.
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
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
- Ezekiel 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
- Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
- Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
- Genesis 34:3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young girl and spoke to her tenderly.
- John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
- Romans 11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob.
- Revelation 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
- Judges 19:3 her husband got up and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back, taking his servant and a pair of donkeys. So the girl brought him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.