2 Kings 12:18

12:18 King Jehoash of Judah collected all the sacred items that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had consecrated, as well as his own sacred items and all the gold that could be found in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He sent it all ¹  to King Hazael of Syria, who then withdrew ²  from Jerusalem.

2 Kings 16:8

16:8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were ³  in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute ⁴  to the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 17:3-4

17:3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria threatened ⁵  him; Hoshea became his subject and paid him tribute. 17:4 The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt. ⁶  Hoshea had sent messengers to King So ⁷  of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him. ⁸ 

2 Kings 18:16

18:16 At that time King Hezekiah of Judah stripped the metal overlays from the doors of the Lord’s temple and from the posts which he had plated ⁹  and gave them to the king of Assyria.

Hosea 5:13

5:13 When Ephraim saw ¹⁰  his sickness

and Judah saw his wound,

then Ephraim turned ¹¹  to Assyria,

and begged ¹²  its great king ¹³  for help.

But he will not be able to heal you!

He cannot cure your wound! ¹⁴ 

Hosea 8:9-10

The Willful Donkey and the Wanton Harlot

8:9 They have gone up to Assyria,

like a wild donkey that wanders off.

Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers. ¹⁵ 

8:10 Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, ¹⁶ 

I will soon gather them together for judgment. ¹⁷ 

Then ¹⁸  they will begin to waste away

under the oppression of a mighty king. ¹⁹ 

Hosea 10:6

10:6 Even the calf idol ²⁰  will be carried to Assyria,

as tribute for the great king. ²¹ 

Ephraim will be disgraced;

Israel will be put to shame because ²²  of its wooden idol. ²³ 

¹ tn The object (“it all”) is supplied in the translation for clarification.

² tn Heb “went up.”

³ tn Heb “that was found.”

⁴ tn Or “bribe money.”

⁵ tn Heb “went up against.”

⁶ tn Heb “and the king of Assyria found in Hoshea conspiracy.”

⁷ sn For discussion of this name, see HALOT 744 s.v. סוֹא and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 196.

⁸ tn Heb “and bound him in the house of confinement.”

⁹ tn Heb “At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the Lord’s temple, and the posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had plated.”

¹⁰ tn Hosea employs three preterites (vayyiqtol forms) in verse 13a-b to describe a past-time situation.

¹¹ tn Heb “went to” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); CEV “asked help from.”

¹² tn Heb “sent to” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

¹³ tc The MT reads מֶלֶךְ יָרֵב (melekh yarev, “a contentious king”). This is translated as a proper name (“king Jareb”) by KJV, ASV, NASB. However, the stative adjective יָרֵב (“contentious”) is somewhat awkward. The words should be redivided as an archaic genitive-construct מַלְכִּי רָב (malki rav, “great king”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) which preserves the old genitive hireq yod ending. This is the equivalent of the Assyrian royal epithet sarru rabbu (“the great king”). See also the tc note on the same phrase in 10:6.

¹⁴ tn Heb “your wound will not depart from you.”

¹⁵ tn Or “has hired herself out to lovers”; cf. NIV “has sold herself to lovers.”

¹⁶ tn Or “they have hired themselves out to lovers”; cf. NASB “they hire allies among the nations.”

¹⁷ tn The Piel stem of קָבַץ (qavats) is often used in a positive sense, meaning “to regather” a dispersed people (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ 3.a; BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ 1.α). However, in Hosea 8:10 it is used in a negative sense, meaning “to assemble (people) for judgment” (e.g., Ezek 20:34; Hos 9:6; HALOT 1063 s.v. 3.e.i). Cf. JPS “I will hold them fast” (in judgment, see the parallel in 9:6).

¹⁸ tn The vav consecutive + preterite וַיָּחֵלּוּ (vayyakhellu, Hiphil preterite 3rd person common plural from חָלַל, khalal, “to begin”]) denotes temporal subordination to the preceding clause: “then…” (so NLT); cf. TEV, CEV “Soon.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “a king of princes” (cf. KJV, NASB); TEV “the emperor of Assyria.”

²⁰ tn The antecedent of the 3rd person masculine singular direct object pronoun אוֹתוֹ (’oto, “it”) is probably the calf idol of Beth Aven mentioned in 10:5a. This has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. TEV, NLT).

²¹ tc The MT reads מֶלֶךְ יָרֵב (melekh yarev, “a king who contends”?) which is syntactically awkward: מֶלֶךְ (“king”) followed by יָרֵב (“let him contend!”; Qal jussive 3rd person masculine singular from רִיב, riv, “to contend”). Note that KJV, ASV, NASB treat this as a proper name (“king Jareb”). The MT reading is probably the result of faulty word division. As the BHS editors suggest, the original reading most likely is מַלְכִּי רָב (malki rav, “the great king”). The suffixed י (yod) on מַלְכִּי is the remnant of the old genitive ending. This is the equivalent of the Assyrian royal epithet sarru rabbu (“the great king”). See also the tc note on the same phrase in 5:13.

²² tn The preposition מִן (min) functions in a causal sense specifying the logical cause: “because of” or “on account of” (e.g., Exod 2:23; Deut 7:7; Nah 3:4; BDB 580 s.v. מִן 2.f; HALOT 598 s.v. מִן 6).

²³ tn The meaning of the root of מֵעֲצָתוֹ (me’atsato, preposition מִן, min, + feminine singular noun עֵצָה, ’etsah, + 3rd person masculine singular suffix) is debated. There are three options: (1) “its counsel” from I עֵצָה (“counsel; advice; plan”; BDB 420 s.v. עֵצָה; HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה 3.a); (2) “its disobedience” from II עֵצָה (“disobedience,” but the existence of this root is debated; see HALOT 867 s.v. II עֵצָה); and (3) “its wooden idol” from III עֵצָה (“wood”; cf. Jer 6:6) referring to the wooden idol/effigy (the calf idol in 10:5), a stick of wood covered with gold (HALOT 867 s.v.). The last option is favored contextually: (a) the idol is called “a stick of wood” in Hos 4:12, and (b) the calf idol (probably the referent) of the cult is mentioned in 10:5. The English versions are divided: (1) “his idol” (RSV, NRSV), “its wooden idols” (NIV), “image” (NJPS margin), “that idol” (CEV), “this idol” (NLT); and (2) “his own counsel” (KJV, ASV), “its own counsel” (NASB), “his plans” (NJPS), “his schemes” (NAB), “the advice” (TEV).