Hosea 10:13 (KJV)

What does Hosea 10:13 mean?

Hosea 10:13 says that Israel has brought harmful results upon itself through wrongdoing and misplaced confidence. The people have relied on their own course and military strength, but those sources of confidence have led them into deception and trouble.

Hosea speaks to Israel using the picture of farm work. Plowing, harvesting, and eating describe a process: what the people have cultivated has become what they must live with. The picture follows the call to sow what is right in verse 12.

The Hebrew behind Hosea 10:13

• “lies” — כַּחַשׁ (kaḥash): The word can mean deception or falsehood. Here, “the fruit of lies” pictures deception as the result of what Israel has cultivated.
• “trust” — בָּטַח (bataḥ): The word carries the sense of relying on or feeling secure in something. Hosea identifies Israel’s “way” and its many powerful men as the things that gave the people that confidence.

Why Hosea 10:13 matters

• Hosea connects the people’s conduct with its outcome. “Plowed,” “reaped,” and “eaten” make wrongdoing and its consequences parts of the same picture.
• The verse names military strength as one object of Israel’s confidence. The “multitude of thy mighty men” points to the strength of numbers, not just the ability of one leader.
• The surrounding passage turns that confidence toward a threat of war. Verse 14 says that an uproar will arise among the people and their fortified places will be destroyed.