Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Hosea 1:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse extends Jezreel's sign into the breaking of Israel's bow in the valley.
The land's unfaithfulness is hung on a household that never gets to speak
This verse is one part of that explanation in Hosea 1:2-9. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Hosea 1:2-9
Read Hosea 1:5 with 1:2-9. This verse extends Jezreel's sign into the breaking of Israel's bow in the valley. The complete unit establishes this movement: Hosea takes Gomer, and Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and Lo-ammi embody warnings against Jehu's house and the northern kingdom while making real family members bear the rhetoric's cost.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The shocking family signs make covenant rupture concrete, then create the names whose reversal will announce restoration. Within that movement, this verse extends Jezreel's sign into the breaking of Israel's bow in the valley.
Read Hosea 1:2–9 together
Why these verses belong together: Marriage command, three births, and the names Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and Lo-ammi form one escalating sign sequence.
Verse 2. 2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Verse 3. 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
Verse 4. 4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Verse 5. 5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
Verse 6. 6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
Verse 7. 7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
Verse 8. 8 Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
Verse 9. 9 Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“break the bow”
In plain language: end the kingdom's effective military power
extends Jezreel's sign into the breaking of Israel's bow in the valley. Military capacity can fail in the very landscape associated with dynastic power and violence.
Why it matters: The wording identifies this verse's distinct contribution to the complete unit.
How certain? strongWhat Remains True
Military capacity can fail in the very landscape associated with dynastic power and violence.
How It Can Shape Life
- Treat military strength as morally accountable and politically limited rather than saving in itself.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Hosea 1:2-9 — Gomer and Three Children Carry Judgment NamesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Hosea 1:2-9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Hosea
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew, morphology, syntax, names, wordplay, repetitions, and the base text for translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Hos.xml, 1:2-9
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Hosea with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, textual, grammatical, historical, rhetorical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Hosea PDF, printed pp. 1670-1672, translation and notes on 1:2-9
Open source ↗