Bible Strands
Hosea 8:12
Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel regarding their proliferation of idolatrous altars and their rejected sacrificial system. The words — אֶכְתַּב ('e.kh.tov) means "I wrote" and תּוֹרָתִי (to.ra.T/i) translates to "My law," while נֶחְשְׁבוּ (nech.Sha.vu) indicates "they are regarded" as זָר (zar), a "strange" or foreign thing. The thread — This pattern of rejecting divine revelation appears in 2 Kings 17:15, while the inherent holiness of the written instruction is affirmed in Romans 7:12. Why it lands — The text declares that God's written law was treated as alien by the people, requiring a clear-eyed recognition of how rebellion dismisses divine authority as unfamiliar rather than binding.
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 have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 4:6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
- Romans 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
- 2 Kings 17:15 They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
- Nehemiah 9:13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.
- Nehemiah 9:26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Psalms 50:17 For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.
- Psalms 119:18 Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
- Psalms 147:19 He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to Israel.
- Proverbs 22:20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,
- Isaiah 30:9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.