to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
wilderness
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑רba.mid.Bar
H4057
a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
land
בְּאֶ֖רֶץbe.'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
drought
תַּלְאֻבֽוֹתtal.'u.Vot
H8514
desiccation · noun, common feminine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye…
Deuteronomy 2:7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years…
Deuteronomy 8:15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water;…
Psalms 142:3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.
Galatians 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire…
Exodus 2:25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
Psalms 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no wa…
Jeremiah 2:2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, w…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hosea 13:5-8
We may observe here, 1. The plentiful provision God had made for Israel and the seasonable supplies he had blessed them with (Hos 13:5): "I did know thee in the wilderness, took cognizance of thy case and made provision for thee, even in a land of great drought, when thou wast in extreme distress, and when no relief was to be had in an ordinary way." See a description of this wilderness, Deu 8:15, Jer 2:6, and say, The God that knew them, and owned them, and fed them there, was a friend indeed, for he was a friend at need and an all-sufficient friend, that could victual so vast an army when all ordinary ways of provision were cut off, and where, if miracles had not been their daily bread, th…
I did know thee--did acknowledge thee as Mine, and so took care of thee (Psa 144:3; Amo 3:2). As I knew thee as Mine, so thou shouldest know no God but Me (Hos 13:4).
in . . . land of . . . drought-- (Deu 8:15).
Adam Clarke on Hosea 13:5
I did know thee - I approved of thee; I loved thee; and by miraculously providing for thee in that land of drought, I demonstrated my love.
John Gill on Hosea 13:5
I did know thee in the wilderness,.... Where there were no food nor drink, where were scorpions, serpents, and beasts of prey; there the Lord knew them, owned them, and showed a fatherly affection for them, and care of them; and fed them with manna and quails, and guided and directed them in the way, and protected and preserved them from their enemies, and from all hurt and danger. So the Targum explains it,
"I sufficiently supplied their necessities in the wilderness:''
in the land of great drought; or, "of droughts" (c); the word is only used in this place; and is by Aben Ezra interpreted a dry and thirsty land; and so he says it signifies in the Arabic language and the same is observed…
"But I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt: and thou shalt know no God but me, and there is no saviour beside me. I knew thee in the desert, in the land of drought. According to their pastures they were filled, and were made full: and they lifted up their heart, and have forgotten me." LXX: "But I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: thou shalt not know any god but me, and there is no savior beside me. I fed thee in the wilderness, in a land of drought. According to their pasture, they were filled, and were made full, and their heart was exalted: and therefore they have forgotten me." He who above had said, "Jacob fled into the land of Syria, and served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved. Now what hath God rendered to them? I am thy Lord God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, which commanded thee through Moses. Take heed lest thou eat and be satisfied, and forget thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; for there is no God but me, and none other can save." I am the founder of all things, I knew that whether you were fed in the desert and in uninhabitable land, where there was a shortage of everything, where there were no waters: I gave you manna from Heaven and produced fountains of water from the hardest rock. As it is also written elsewhere: "He waxed fat, and kicked, and forgot the God which he had made him" (Deut. XXXII, 15): now they also have eaten and are filled, and their heart has been lifted up, and they have forgotten Him, who they should have been mindful of His benefits. For through so great a waste of desert, where not only does no corn or trees or vines grow, but not even grass, and no waters mitigate the burning heat of the sun, the people of Israel could not have reached the land of the Jordan in forty years, unless the Lord had provided all things. The Lord also brought forth heretics from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and from the iron furnace, who had previously served the king Pharaoh and his leaders: and He commanded them in the Church not to know any other God except Him who is the creator of all things, and who knows how to save those who He created. He himself knew them and was afraid in a land of solitude; so that they may say: "The Lord…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Hosea 13:4-5
Hosea 13:4-5
4. Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
4. Et ego Jehova Deus tuus e terra Aegypti, et Deum extra me non cognosces, et Servator nemo praeter me.
5. I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
5. Ego cognovi te in leserto, in terra siccitatum (hoc est, in terra arida.)
The Prophet now repeats the sentence which we have noticed in the last chapter for the sake of amplifying the sin of the people. For had they never known sound doctrine, had they never been brought up in the law, there would have been some colour for alleviating their fault; because they might have excused t…
"And yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt hither; and thou knowest no God beside me, and there is no helper beside me. Hos 13:5. I knew thee in the desert, in the land of burning heats." As in Hos 12:10, a contrast is drawn here again between the idolatry of the people and the uninterrupted self-attestation of Jehovah to the faithless nation. From Egypt hither Israel has known no other God than Jehovah, i.e., has found no other God to be a helper and Saviour. Even in the desert He knew Israel, i.e., adopted it in love. ידע, to know, when applied to God, is an attestation of His love and care (compare Amo 3:2; Isa 58:3, etc.). The ἁπ. λεγ. תּלאוּבת, from לאב, Arab. lâb, med. Vav,…
there is no other savior: The Lord had proved this to Israel during the Exodus and the wilderness wandering.
Rashi on Hosea 13:5
I knew you I set My heart to know your necessity, and I provided you.
deprivation Heb. תַלְאוּבֹת. There is no similarity to this in Scripture, and its interpretation is, according to the context, תֵּל, a heap, שֶאוֹבִין, where they long for all good and do not find it.
