What Does Hosea 12:5 Mean in the King James?
Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial.
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 verse makes YHWH himself the memorial, so the name holds the enduring remembrance of God’s nature.
THE MEANING
You encounter the LORD as God of hosts, while YHWH is called his memorial. The name carries God’s nature into your present, so remembrance is recognition of who is here.
THE ROOT
זִכְרוֹ
zikro
GROWS FROM
זכר
zakar
Remember, call to mind, mention.
English “memorial” gives the image of remembrance, while זכר (zakar) carries remembering and mentioning together: what is remembered can be spoken into the present. Here YHWH is called God’s memorial, so remembrance holds the nature carried by the name.
ALSO GROWS
zākar: To remember or call to mind.
זָכַר
This verb shows that the memorial is rooted in the act of keeping someone present in memory.
zēkher: Remembrance or memorial.
זֵכֶר
This noun shares the root with Hosea’s word and names the remembrance the verse locates in YHWH.
hizkîr: To mention or bring to remembrance.
הִזְכִּיר
This branch shows remembrance becoming speech, carrying the name into the present.
THE PATTERN
The divine name carries God’s remembered identity across generations and is borne as a living mark.
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.THE THREAD
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.Hosea calls YHWH זִכְרוֹ (zikro, “his remembrance”), while Exodus calls YHWH זִכְרִי (zikri, “my memorial”); both come from זכר (zakar), “remember, mention.” Exodus makes explicit what Hosea compresses: the name itself is God’s memorial through every generation.
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