Hosea 8:7

For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet Hosea addresses Israel during a period of covenant betrayal, immediately after condemning the idolatrous calf of Samaria.

The words — ר֥וּחַ (Ruach) translates to wind, and סוּפָ֣תָה (Sufatah) means a violent storm-wind. The text uses these terms to describe a futile agricultural cycle where planting yields nothing.

The thread — The sowing-reaping pattern appears in Proverbs 22:8, Job 4:8, and Galatians 6:7. Each passage records the same structural principle that actions produce matching outcomes.

Why it lands — The verse states that actions divorced from divine instruction yield no standing grain or flour. It demands acknowledgment that futile efforts produce no sustenance, and any partial harvest will be consumed by foreigners.

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

כִּ֛יkifor ר֥וּחַRu.acha wind יִזְרָ֖עוּyiz.Ra.'uthey sow וְסוּפָ֣תָהve./su.Fa.ta/hand/ a storm-wind/ <towards>יִקְצֹ֑רוּyik.Tzo.ruthey will reap קָמָ֣הka.Mahstanding grain אֵֽין־'ein-notל֗וֹl/o[belongs] to/ itצֶ֚מַחTze.machgrowth בְּלִ֣יbe.Linot יַֽעֲשֶׂה־ya.'a.seh-it will produce קֶּ֔מַחKe.machflour אוּלַ֣י'u.Laiperhaps יַֽעֲשֶׂ֔הya.'a.Sehit will produce זָרִ֖יםza.Rimstrangers יִבְלָעֻֽהוּ׃yiv.la.'U./huthey will swallow/ it

King James Version

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

Cross-references

Proverbs 22:8 He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
Job 4:8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
Judges 6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
Hosea 7:9 Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not know.
Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
Isaiah 66:15 For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
Hosea 2:9 Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.