Hosea 14:1-2

Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance

14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for your sin has been your downfall! ¹ 

14:2 Return to the Lord and repent! ² 

Say to him: “Completely ³  forgive our iniquity;

accept ⁴  our penitential prayer, ⁵ 

that we may offer the praise of our lips as sacrificial bulls. ⁶ 

Hosea 1:7

1:7 But I will have pity on the nation ⁷  of Judah. ⁸  I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, ⁹  by chariot horses, or by chariots.” ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 6:32

6:32 A man who commits adultery with a woman lacks wisdom, ¹¹ 

whoever does it destroys his own life. ¹² 

Proverbs 8:36

8:36 But the one who does not find me ¹³  brings harm ¹⁴  to himself; ¹⁵ 

all who hate me ¹⁶  love death.”

Isaiah 3:9

3:9 The look on their faces ¹⁷  testifies to their guilt; ¹⁸ 

like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ¹⁹ 

Too bad for them! ²⁰ 

For they bring disaster on themselves.

Isaiah 3:11

3:11 Too bad for the wicked sinners!

For they will get exactly what they deserve. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 2:17

2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, ²² 

by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. ²³ 

Jeremiah 2:19

2:19 Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.

Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you. ²⁴ 

Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful ²⁵ 

it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God, ²⁶ 

to show no respect for me,” ²⁷ 

says the Lord God who rules over all. ²⁸ 

Jeremiah 4:18

4:18 “The way you have lived and the things you have done ²⁹ 

will bring this on you.

This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed. ³⁰ 

The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.” ³¹ 

Jeremiah 5:25

5:25 Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming. ³² 

Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’ ³³ 

Malachi 1:9

1:9 But now plead for God’s favor ³⁴  that he might be gracious to us. ³⁵  “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

¹ tn Heb “For you have stumbled in your iniquity”; NASB, NRSV “because of your iniquity.”

² tn Heb “Take words with you and return to the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

³ tn The word order כָּל־תִּשָּׂא עָוֹן (kol-tisa’ ’avon) is syntactically awkward. The BHS editors suggest rearranging the word order: תִּשָּׂא כָּל־עוֹן (“Forgive all [our] iniquity!”). However, Gesenius suggests that כָּל (“all”) does not function as the construct in the genitive phrase כָּל־עוֹן (“all [our] iniquity”); it functions adverbially modifying the verb תִּשָּׂא (“Completely forgive!”; see GKC 415 §128.e).

⁴ sn The repetition of the root לָקַח (laqakh) creates a striking wordplay in 14:2. If Israel will bring (לָקַח) its confession to God, he will accept (לָקַח) repentant Israel and completely forgive its sin.

⁵ tn Heb “and accept [our] speech.” The word טוֹב (tov) is often confused with the common homonymic root I טוֹב (tov, “good”; BDB 373 s.v. I טוֹב). However, this is probably IV טוֹב (tov, “word, speech”; HALOT 372 s.v. IV טוֹב), a hapax legomenon that is related to the verb טבב (“to speak”; HALOT 367 s.v. טבב) and the noun טִבָּה (tibbah, “rumor”; HALOT 367 s.v. טִבָּה). The term טוֹב (“word; speech”) refers to the repentant prayer mentioned in 14:1-3. Most translations relate it to I טוֹב and treat it as (1) accusative direct object: “accept that which is good” (RSV, NJPS), “Accept our good sacrifices” (CEV), or (2) adverbial accusative of manner: “receive [us] graciously” (KJV, NASB, NIV). Note TEV, however, which follows the suggestion made here: “accept our prayer.”

⁶ tc The MT reads פָרִים (farim, “bulls”), but the LXX reflects פְּרִי (pÿri, “fruit”), a reading followed by NASB, NIV, NRSV: “that we may offer the fruit of [our] lips [as sacrifices to you].” Although the Greek expression in Heb 13:15 (καρπὸν χειλέων, karpon xeilewn, “the fruit of lips”) reflects this LXX phrase, the MT makes good sense as it stands; NT usage of the LXX should not be considered decisive in resolving OT textual problems. The noun פָרִים (parim, “bulls”) functions as an adverbial accusative of state.

⁷ tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”

⁸ tn The word order in this line is rhetorical, emphasizing the divine decision to withhold pity from Israel but to bestow it on Judah. The accusative direct object, which is introduced by a disjunctive vav (to denote contrast), appears before the verb: וְאֶת־בֵּית יְהוּדָה אֲרַחֵם (vé’et-bet yéhudah ’arakhem, “but upon the house of Judah I will show pity”).

⁹ tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”

¹⁰ sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).

¹¹ tn Heb “heart.” The term “heart” is used as a metonymy of association for discernment, wisdom, good sense. Cf. NAB “is a fool”; NIV “lacks judgment”; NCV, NRSV “has no sense.”

¹² tn Heb “soul.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a metonymy of association for “life” (BDB 659 s.v. 3.c).

¹³ tn Heb “the one sinning [against] me.” The verb חָטָא (khata’, “to sin”) forms a contrast with “find” in the previous verse, and so has its basic meaning of “failing to find, miss.” So it is talking about the one who misses wisdom, as opposed to the one who finds it.

¹⁴ tn The Qal active participle functions verbally here. The word stresses both social and physical harm and violence.

¹⁵ tn Heb “his soul.”

¹⁶ tn The basic idea of the verb שָׂנֵא (sane’, “to hate”) is that of rejection. Its antonym is also used in the line, “love,” which has the idea of choosing. So not choosing (i.e., hating) wisdom amounts to choosing (i.e., loving) death.

¹⁷ sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.

¹⁸ tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”

²⁰ tn Heb “woe to their soul.”

²¹ tn Heb “for the work of his hands will be done to him.”

²² tn Heb “Are you not bringing this on yourself.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

²³ tn Heb “at the time of leading you in the way.”

²⁴ tn Or “teach you a lesson”; Heb “rebuke/chide you.”

²⁵ tn Heb “how evil and bitter.” The reference is to the consequences of their acts. This is a figure of speech (hendiadys) where two nouns or adjectives joined by “and” introduce a main concept modified by the other noun or adjective.

²⁶ tn Heb “to leave the Lord your God.” The change in person is intended to ease the problem of the rapid transition, which is common in Hebrew style but not in English, from third to first person between this line and the next.

²⁷ tn Heb “and no fear of me was on you.”

²⁸ tn Heb “the Lord Yahweh, [the God of] hosts.” For the title Lord God see the study note on 1:6. For the title “who rules over all” see the following study note. The title “the Lord who rules over all” is a way of rendering the title “Yahweh of armies.” It is an abbreviation of a longer title “Yahweh the God of armies” which occurs five times in Jeremiah (see, e.g., 44:7). The abbreviated title occurs seventy-seven times in the book of Jeremiah. On thirty-two occasions it is further qualified by the title “the God of Israel,” showing his special relation to Israel. On six occasions it is preceded by the title “Lord” (see, e.g., 46:10) and twice it is preceded by the title “the King” (see, e.g., 51:17). Both titles emphasize his sovereignty. Twice it is said that he is the maker of all things (10:16; 51:19), and once it is said that he made the earth and the people and animals on it and gives them into the control of whomever he wishes (27:4-5). On two occasions it is emphasized that he also made the heavenly elements and controls the natural elements of wind, rain, thunder, and hail (31:35; 51:14-16). All this is consistent with usage elsewhere where the “armies” over which he has charge are identified as (1) the angels which surround his throne (Isa 6:3, 5; 1 Kgs 22:19) and which he sends to protect his servants (2 Kgs 6:17), (2) the natural forces of thunder, rain, and hail (Isa 29:6; Josh 10:11; Judg 5:4, 5) through which he sends the enemy into panic and “gums” up their chariot wheels, (3) the armies of Israel (1 Sam 17:45) which he leads into battle (Num 10:34-35; Josh 5:14, 15) and for whom he fights as a mighty warrior (Exod 15:3; Isa 42:13; Ps 24:8), and even (4) the armies of the nations which he musters against his disobedient people (Isa 13:14). This title is most commonly found in the messenger formula “Thus says…” introducing both oracles of judgment (on Israel [e.g., 9:7, 15] and on the nations [e.g. 46:19; 50:18]; and see in general 25:29-32). It emphasizes his sovereignty as the king and creator, the lord of creation and of history, and the just judge who sees and knows all (11:20; 20:12) and judges each person and nation according to their actions (Jer 32:18-19). In the first instance (in the most dominant usage) this will involve the punishment of his own people through the agency of the Babylonians (cf., e.g., 25:8-9). But it will also include the punishment of all nations, including Babylon itself (cf. Jer 25:17-26, 32-38), and will ultimately result in the restoration of his people and a new relation with them (30:8; 31:35-37).

²⁹ tn Heb “Your way and your deeds.”

³⁰ tn Heb “How bitter!”

³¹ tn Heb “Indeed, it reaches to your heart.” The subject must be the pain alluded to in the last half of the preceding line; the verb is masculine, agreeing with the adjective translated “painful.” The only other possible antecedent “punishment” is feminine.

³² tn Heb “have turned these things away.”

³³ tn Heb “have withheld the good from you.”

³⁴ tn Heb “seek the face of God.”

³⁵ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).