What Does Hosea 12:10 Mean in the King James?

I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
Hosea 12:10 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

The Hebrew behind “similitudes” means “I compare”: revelation reaches you by making the unseen resemble something you can see.

God’s communication reaches you through speech, vision, and likeness; an image is one way truth becomes visible to you. A comparison gives the unseen a shape your perception can hold, while a vision opens sight beyond the spoken sentence.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A message does not have to arrive as a plain sentence to be real; this verse gives vision and comparison a place alongside prophetic speech.

אֲדַמֶּה

adammeh

GROWS FROM

דמה

⁨דמה⁩ (damah): to resemble, be like, or compare.

“similitudes” in this verse is adammeh. The Hebrew verb ⁨אֲדַמֶּה⁩ (adammeh, “I compare” or “I make like”) presents likeness as a way the message is conveyed. A comparison is not merely decorative: it gives something unseen a form the mind can recognize.

ALSO GROWS

damah: To be like or resemble.

דָּמָה

This is the root action: a likeness places one thing beside another so the relationship becomes visible.

domeh: Like or resembling.

דּוֹמֶה

This form describes the resemblance itself, showing how comparison can give an idea a recognizable shape.

חָזוֹן

chazon

GROWS FROM

חזה

⁨חזה⁩ (chazah): to see, behold, or perceive.

“visions” in this verse is chazon. The word for vision belongs to the language of seeing and perceiving. The verse places received sight beside spoken words and likeness: what reaches you can be shown as well as said.

ALSO GROWS

chazah: To see, behold, or perceive.

חָזָה

The verb names the act of seeing that lies within the verse’s language of vision.

chozeh: A seer, one who sees.

חֹזֶה

This form names the one who perceives, linking vision to a person who receives what is shown.

The living message reaches you through words, images, and comparisons, giving what is unseen a form you can perceive.

And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
Numbers 12:6 · KJVThe verse places spoken words, a vision, and a dream together as forms through which the message reaches you.
I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
Psalm 78:2 · KJVA parable gives the spoken message a likeness through which its meaning can be perceived.
These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
John 16:25 · KJVProverbs and plain speech both carry the message, showing how its form can shift while its truth remains.
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
Psalm 144:4 · KJV

The phrase “is like” uses ⁨דָּמָה⁩ (damah, “to resemble or compare”), the same Hebrew root behind Hosea’s “similitudes.” Here, comparison makes human frailty visible as a passing shadow: likeness gives truth a form the reader can see.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us

Hosea 12:10 KJV Meaning