What Does Hosea 1:7 Mean in the King James?
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The weapons can promise safety, but yasha names deliverance as being brought out of constriction into room, and the verse gives that work to the LORD.
THE MEANING
Compassion rests on the house of Judah, and deliverance comes through the LORD their God. For you now, the verse names bow, sword, battle, horses, and horsemen so that force is not mistaken for the source of rescue.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
“If I gather enough force, I can make myself safe.”
THE ROOT
וְהוֹשִׁעְתִּים
wĕhôshaʿtîm
GROWS FROM
י־ש־ע
y-sh-ʿ
Deliver, bring into safety; yasha is deliverance out of constriction into room.
The Hebrew verb translated “save” belongs to the root yasha, the language of deliverance. The verse places that deliverance in the LORD rather than in the bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen named around it.
ALSO GROWS
yeshuʿah: Deliverance
יְשׁוּעָה
This is the noun for the rescue Hosea says the LORD gives.
môshîaʿ: Deliverer
מוֹשִׁיעַ
The branch names the one who brings a person into safety, making the verse’s source of rescue explicit.
אֲרַחֵם
ʾaraḥēm
GROWS FROM
ר־ח־ם
r-ḥ-m
To show compassion; the root also carries the image of the womb.
“mercy” in this verse is ʾaraḥēm. The compassion here is not distant pity: racham is kin to rechem, the womb, where life is held and sheltered. The verse places this sheltering compassion beside deliverance, joining care with rescue.
ALSO GROWS
rechem: Womb
רֶחֶם
The shared root gives compassion the sense of protective, life-holding care.
raḥamîm: Compassion
רַחֲמִים
This plural form names the compassion that the verb promises to the house of Judah.
יְהוּדָה
Yehudah
GROWS FROM
י־ד־ה
y-d-h
To praise, acknowledge, or give thanks.
“Judah” in this verse is Yehudah. Yehudah carries the sound and sense of yadah, praise and acknowledgment. In a verse that refuses to credit weapons with deliverance, the name quietly turns attention toward acknowledgment of the one who delivers.
ALSO GROWS
yādāh: Praise, acknowledge, give thanks
יָדָה
This root helps disclose the nature carried in the name Yehudah.
tôdāh: Thanksgiving, praise
תּוֹדָה
This related word shows the root’s movement from acknowledgment into expressed thanks.
THE PATTERN
Rescue rests on the LORD’s presence and power rather than on the force people gather to secure themselves.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.THE THREAD
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.“Saved” here and “save” in Hosea come from the same Hebrew root, yasha (י־ש־ע), meaning to deliver or bring into safety. Hosea names the LORD as the source beyond weapons; this verse shows that same deliverance answering a cry.
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