Hosea 8:7

Hosea 8:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.
• New Living Translation (NLT)“They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of grain wither and produce nothing to eat. And even if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it.

Context of Hosea 8:7

5Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them— How long until they attain to innocence? 6For from Israel is even this: A workman made it, and it is not God; But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. “They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up. 8Israel is swallowed up; Now they are among the Gentiles Like a vessel in which is no pleasure. 9For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers.

Hosea 8:7 word by word

כִּ֛י ר֥וּחַ יִזְרָ֖עוּ וְסוּפָ֣תָה יִקְצֹ֑רוּ קָמָ֣ה אֵֽין־ל֗וֹ צֶ֚מַח בְּלִ֣י יַֽעֲשֶׂה־קֶּ֔מַח אוּלַ֣י יַֽעֲשֶׂ֔ה זָרִ֖ים יִבְלָעֻֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For they have sownזָרַעzâra‛ · to sowH2232
• the windרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
• and they shall reapקָצַרqâtsar · to reapH7114
• the whirlwindסוּפָהsûphâh · whirlwindH5492
• it hath no stalkקָמָהqâmâh · standing grainH7054
• the budצֶ֫מַחtsemach · branchH6780
• shall yieldעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• no mealקֶ֫מַחqemach · flourH7058
• ifאוּלַי'ûlay 'ûlay · perhapsH194
• the strangersזוּרzûr · be a strangerH2114
• shall swallow it upבָּלַעbâla‛ · to swallow upH1104

Cross-references for Hosea 8:7

• Hosea 10:12Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
• Job 4:8Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same.
• Proverbs 22:8He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, And the rod of his anger will fail.
• Ecclesiastes 5:16And this also is a severe evil— Just exactly as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?
• Galatians 6:7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
• Isaiah 17:11In the day you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap of ruins In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
• Jeremiah 12:13They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
• Hosea 7:9Aliens have devoured his strength, But he does not know it; Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, Yet he does not know it.
• Deuteronomy 28:33A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually.
• Judges 6:3So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.
• 2 Kings 13:3Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.
• 2 Kings 15:19Pul king of Assyria came against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his control.

Commentaries on Hosea 8:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind - As the husbandman reaps the same kind of grain which he has sown, but in far greater abundance, thirty, sixty, or one hundred fold; so he who sows the wind shall have a whirlwind to reap. The vental seed shall be multiplied into a tempest so they who sow the seed of unrighteousness shall reap a harvest of judgment. This is a fine, bold, and energetic metaphor. It hath no stalk - Nothing that can…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind - “They shall reap,” not merely as “they have sown,” but with an awful increase. They sowed folly and vanity, and shall reap, not merely emptiness and disappointment, but sudden, irresistible destruction. “They sowed the wind,” and, as one seed bringeth forth many, so the wind, “penn‘d up,” as it were, in this destructive tillage, should “burst forth again, reinforced in strength, in mightier…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-10Verses 5-10 They promised themselves plenty, peace, and victory, by worshipping idols, but their expectations came to nothing. What they sow has no stalk, no blade, or, if it have, the bud shall yield no fruit, there was nothing in them. The works of darkness are unfruitful; nay, the end of those things is death. The hopes of sinners will deceive them, and their gains will be snares. In times of danger, especially in the day of judgment, all carnal…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7When Hosea announced God's judgment, the punishment fit the crime (see study note on Hosea 4:10). Through their idol worship and political schemes, the Israelites caused their own downfall (see Galatians 6:7).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. sown ... reap--(Pr 22:8; Ga 6:7). "Sow ... wind," that is, to make the vain show of worship, while faith and obedience are wanting [Calvin]. Rather, to offer senseless supplications to the calves for good harvests (compare Ho 2:8); the result being that God will make them "reap no stalk," that is, "standing corn." Also, the phraseology proverbially means that all their undertakings shall be profitless (Pr 11:29; Ec 5:16). the bud--or, "growth."…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 8:7

• Idolatry
• Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena
• Sin
• Sower
• Whirlwind

In the dictionaries

• Hosea
• Reaping
• Stalk
• Whirlwind
• Wind
• Zechariah, Book of

Commentaries on Hosea 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings