Hosea 6:6

The context

Hosea's indictment follows the unfaithfulness of Ephraim and the people's quick repentance, which the prophet compares to morning mist. Verse 6 gives God's preference in a single line, and verse 7 turns back to the covenant breach at Adam. Jesus quotes this verse twice in Matthew.

What it establishes

It establishes that God's desire is for loyalty and knowledge of him rather than for ritual performance, and that the two are being weighed against each other. The word rendered steadfast love carries covenant loyalty, not mere feeling, and it is paired with knowledge of God.

What it does not establish

It does not establish that sacrifice was never commanded or is intrinsically bad. The line is a prophetic preference within a sacrificial system, and Hosea's contemporaries were not offering sacrifices instead of loyalty but alongside a life that denied it. Nor does the verse define what knowledge of God means.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• The Old Testament commanded animal sacrifices. Isn’t that evil — and how could a good God require it?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.