Hosea 2:20 (DBY)

Passage

and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Hosea 2:18 And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will break bow and sword and battle out of the land; and I will make them to lie down safely.

Hosea 2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies;

Hosea 2:20 and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know Jehovah.

Hosea 2:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

Hosea 2:22 and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "betroth", "thee", "faithfulness", "thou", "shalt", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "betroth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And I will betroth thee unto me..." into verse 21's "And it shall come to pass in...", so "faith" and "betroth" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "faith" and "betroth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.