16:5 At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem. 1 They besieged Ahaz, 2 but were unable to conquer him. 3
7:1 During 8 the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel marched up to Jerusalem 9 to do battle, but they were unable to prevail against it. 10
7:8 For Syria’s leader is Damascus,
and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation. 11
5:12 I will be like a moth to Ephraim,
like wood rot 12 to the house of Judah.
5:13 When Ephraim saw 13 his sickness
and Judah saw his wound,
then Ephraim turned 14 to Assyria,
and begged 15 its great king 16 for help.
But he will not be able to heal you!
He cannot cure your wound! 17
1 tn Heb “went up to Jerusalem for battle.”
2 tn That is, Jerusalem, Ahaz’s capital city.
3 tn Heb “they were unable to fight.” The object must be supplied from the preceding sentence. Elsewhere when the Niphal infinitive of לָחָם (lakham) follows the verb יָכֹל (yakhol), the infinitive appears to have the force of “prevail against.” See Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9; and the parallel passage in Isa 7:1.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the
6 tn Heb “said to him.”
7 tn Heb “Is it because there is no God in Israel [that] you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron?” The translation seeks to bring out the sarcastic tone of the rhetorical question. In v. 3 the messengers are addressed (in the phrase “you are on your way” the second person plural pronoun is used in Hebrew), but here the king is addressed (in the phrase “you are sending” the second person singular pronoun is used).
8 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
9 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
10 tn Or perhaps, “but they were unable to attack it.” This statement sounds like a summary of the whole campaign. The following context explains why they were unable to defeat the southern kingdom. The parallel passage (2 Kgs 16:5; cf. Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9 for a similar construction) affirms that Syria and Israel besieged Ahaz. Consequently, the statement that “they were not able to battle against them” must refer to the inability to conquer Ahaz.
11 tn Heb “Ephraim will be too shattered to be a nation”; NIV “to be a people.”
12 tn The noun רָקָב (raqav, “rottenness, decay”) refers to wood rot caused by the ravages of worms (BDB 955 s.v. רָקָב); cf. NLT “dry rot.” The related noun רִקָּבוֹן (riqqavon) refers to “rotten wood” (Job 41:27).
13 tn Hosea employs three preterites (vayyiqtol forms) in verse 13a-b to describe a past-time situation.
14 tn Heb “went to” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); CEV “asked help from.”
15 tn Heb “sent to” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
16 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.
17 tn Heb “your wound will not depart from you.”