Bible Strands
Hosea 2:7
She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will return to my first husband, for then I was better off than now.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses unfaithful Israel as "she" within a covenant lawsuit, describing her futile pursuit of foreign alliances and idolatrous substitutes.
The words — וְרִדְּפָ֤ה (ve./ri.de.Fah) translates literally as "and she will pursue," while תַשִּׂ֣יג (ta.Sig) means "she will overtake." The text states she will pursue her lovers without overtaking them, and seek them without finding them.
The thread — This pattern of seeking substitutes appears in Hosea 5:13, where Israel turns to Assyria for healing, and echoes Jeremiah 2:2, which recalls Israel’s early devotion before she abandoned it.
Why it lands — The passage demands a clear-eyed assessment of spiritual bankruptcy, forcing the reader to acknowledge that chasing created substitutes yields nothing, and to return to the covenant source who originally provided sustenance.
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
And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 2:2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
- Jeremiah 14:22 Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.
- Hosea 5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
- Luke 15:17 Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food, but here I am, starving to death!
- Deuteronomy 8:17 You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
- Ezekiel 23:4 The older was named Oholah, and her sister was named Oholibah. They became Mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. As for their identities, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 23:22 Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will incite your lovers against you, those from whom you turned away in disgust. And I will bring them against you from every side—
- 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.
- 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 32:13 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,