Hosea 13:5

אֲנִ֥י יְדַעְתִּ֖יךָ בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר בְּאֶ֖רֶץ תַּלְאֻבֹֽות׃

I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of desolations.

Morphology

1. אֲנִי (ani) – Root: —; Form: Independent pronoun 1st person singular; Translation: “I”; Notes: Emphatic subject pronoun—YHWH personally declares His intimate relationship and awareness of Yisraʾel.
2. יְדַעְתִּיךָ (yedʿatikha) – Root: ידע (yadaʿ); Form: Qal perfect 1st person singular + suffix 2ms; Translation: “I knew you”; Notes: “Know” here implies covenantal recognition and care, not mere cognition—YHWH’s loving acknowledgment of His people in hardship.
3. בַּמִּדְבָּר (ba-midbar) – Root: מדבר (midbar); Form: Preposition בְּ + definite noun masculine singular; Translation: “in the wilderness”; Notes: Refers to Yisraʾel’s journey after the Exodus—symbolic of testing, dependence, and divine provision.
4. בְּאֶרֶץ (be-erets) – Root: ארץ (ʾerets); Form: Preposition בְּ + noun feminine singular; Translation: “in a land”; Notes: Introduces the setting—identifying the barren and difficult nature of the environment YHWH sustained them in.
5. תַּלְאֻבֹות (talʾuvot) – Root: לאב (laʾav); Form: Noun feminine plural; Translation: “desolations” or “wearinesses”; Notes: Derived from a root meaning “to faint” or “to languish”; signifies distress and hardship—depicting the barren, testing conditions under which YHWH maintained His people.