Hosea 14 · Verse 4

Hosea 14:4

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
Hosea 14:4, King James Version

Hosea 14:4 in other translations

BSBI will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
WEB“I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them.
ASVI will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him.
YLTI heal their backsliding, I love them freely, For turned back hath Mine anger from him.
DARBYI will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him.
BBEI will put right their errors; freely will my love be given to them, for my wrath is turned away from him.
WebsterI will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for my anger is turned away from him.

What does Hosea 14:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. God's gracious reply to their self-condemning prayer. backsliding--apostasy: not merely occasional backslidings. God can heal the most desperate sinfulness [Calvin]. freely--with a gratuitous, unmerited, and abundant love (Eze 16:60-63). So as to the spiritual Israel (Joh 15:16; Ro 3:24; 5:8; 1Jo 4:10).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 I will heal their backsliding - Here is the answer of God to these prayers and resolutions. See its parts: - 1. Ye have backslidden and fallen, and are grievously and mortally wounded by that fall; but I, who am the Author of life, and who redeem from death, will heal all these wounds and spiritual diseases. 2. I will love them freely - נדבה nedabah, after a liberal, princely manner. I will love them so as to do them incessant good. It shall not be a love of affection merely, but shall be a beneficial love. A love that not only feels delight in itself, but fills them with delight who are its objects, by making them unutterably and supremely happy. 3. For mine anger is turned away from him - Because he has turned back to me. Thus God and man become friends.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hosea 14:4-8
Israel seeks God's face, and they shall not seek it in vain. His anger is turned from them. Whom God loves, he loves freely; not because they deserve it, but of his own good pleasure. God will be to them all they need. The graces of the Spirit are the hidden manna, hidden in the dew; the grace thus freely bestowed on them shall not be in vain. They shall grow upward, and be more flourishing; shall grow as the lily. The lily, when come to its height, is a lovely flower, Matt. 6:28,29. They shall grow downward, and be more firm. With the flower of the lily shall be the strong root of the cedar of Lebanon. Spiritual growth consists most in the growth of the root, which is out of sight. They shall also spread as the vine, whose branches extend very widely. When believers abound in good works, then their branches spread. They shall be acceptable both to God and man. Holiness is the beauty of a soul. The church is compared to the vine and the olive, which bring forth useful fruits. God's promises pertain to those only that attend on his ordinances; not such as flee to this shadow only for shelter in a hot gleam, but all who dwell under it. When a man is brought to God, all who dwell under his shadow fare the better. The sanctifying fruits shall appear in his life. Thus believers grow up into the experience and fruitfulness of the gospel. Ephraim shall say, God will put it into his heart to say it, What have I to do any more with idols! God's promises to us are more our security and our strength for mortifying sin, than our promises to God. See the power of Divine grace. God will work such a change in him, that he shall loathe the idols as much as ever he loved them. See the benefit of sanctified afflictions. Ephraim smarted for his idolatry, and this is the fruit, even the taking away his sin, Is. 27:9. See the nature of repentance; it is a firm and fixed resolution to have no more to do with sin. The Lord meets penitents with mercy, as the father of the prodigal met his returning son. God will be to all true converts both a delight and a defence; they shall sit under his shadow with delight. And as the root of a tree; From me is thy fruit found: from Him we receive grace and strength to enable us to do our duty.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Hosea 14:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אֶרְפָּא֙'er.Pa'I will healH7495
מְשׁ֣וּבָתָ֔םme.Shu.va.Tamapostasy theirH4878
אֹהֲבֵ֖ם'o.ha.VemI will love themH157
נְדָבָ֑הne.da.VahvoluntarinessH5071
כִּ֛יkiforH3588
שָׁ֥בshavit has turned awayH7725
אַפִּ֖י'a.Pianger myH639
מִמֶּֽנּוּ\׃mi.Me.nufrom himH4480

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Hosea 14:4

  • Isaiah 57:18

    I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.

  • Jeremiah 3:22

    Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.

  • Isaiah 12:1

    And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

  • Ephesians 2:4-9

    But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. …

  • Zephaniah 3:17

    The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

  • Hosea 6:1

    Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

  • 2 Corinthians 5:19-21

    To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

  • Jeremiah 5:6

    Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

  • Exodus 15:26

    And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

  • Jeremiah 8:22

    Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

  • Titus 3:4

    But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

  • Jeremiah 17:14

    Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
heal.
11:7; Ex 15:26; Isa 57:18; Jer 3:22; 5:6; 8:22; 14:7; 17:14; 33:6
Mt 9:12,13
I will love.
De 7:7,8; Zep 3:17; Ro 3:24; Eph 1:6; 2:4-9; 2Ti 1:9; Tit 3:4
for.
Nu 25:4,11; Ps 78:38; Isa 12:1; 2Co 5:19-21

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Hosea 14:3

    Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

  • Hosea 14:4

    I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

  • Hosea 14:5

    I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

Read all of Hosea 14

Hosea 14:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Yo medicinaré su rebelión, amarélos de voluntad: porque mi furor se apartó de ellos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		L’Assyrie ne nous sauvera pas; nous ne monterons pas sur des chevaux, et nous ne dirons plus: Notre Dieu, à l’œuvre de nos mains; car, auprès de toi, l’orphelin trouve la miséricorde.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ich will ihre Abtrünnigkeit heilen, will sie willig lieben; denn mein Zorn hat sich von ihm abgewendet.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Assur non salvabit nos: super equum non ascendemus, nec dicemus ultra, Dii nostri opera manuum nostrarum: quia ejus, qui in te est, misereberis pupilli.