2 Kings 17:13

17:13 The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers, “Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.” ¹ 

2 Kings 17:1

Hoshea’s Reign over Israel

17:1 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria ²  for nine years.

2 Kings 13:2

13:2 He did evil in the sight of ³  the Lord. He continued in ⁴  the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who had encouraged Israel to sin; he did not repudiate those sins. ⁵ 

2 Kings 14:16

14:16 Jehoash passed away ⁶  and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam replaced him as king.)

Hosea 1:4-9

1:4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, ⁷  “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because in a little while I will punish ⁸  the dynasty ⁹  of Jehu on account of the bloodshed ¹⁰  in the valley of Jezreel, ¹¹  and I will put an end to the kingdom ¹²  of Israel. ¹³  1:5 At that time, ¹⁴  I will destroy the military power ¹⁵  of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”

1:6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord ¹⁶  said to him, “Name her ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) because I will no longer have pity ¹⁷  on the nation ¹⁸  of Israel. For ¹⁹  I will certainly not forgive ²⁰  their guilt. ²¹  1:7 But I will have pity on the nation ²²  of Judah. ²³  I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, ²⁴  by chariot horses, or by chariots.” ²⁵ 

1:8 When ²⁶  she had weaned ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) she conceived again and gave birth to another son. 1:9 Then the Lord ²⁷  said: “Name him ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), because you ²⁸  are not my people and I am not your ²⁹  God.” ³⁰ 

Amos 5:27

5:27 and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord.

He is called the God who commands armies!

Micah 1:6

1:6 “I will turn Samaria ³¹  into a heap of ruins in an open field –

vineyards will be planted there! ³² 

I will tumble ³³  the rubble of her stone walls ³⁴  down into the valley,

and tear down her fortifications to their foundations. ³⁵ 

[17:13]  ¹ tn Heb “obey my commandments and rules according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets.”

[17:1]  ² map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[13:2]  ³ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[13:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “walked after.”

[13:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “he did not turn aside from it.”

[14:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

[1:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “to him.” The referent (Hosea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will visit.” The verb פָּקַד (paqad, “to visit”) has a very broad range of meanings: (1) “to pay attention to; to look at” (a) favorably: to look after; to provide for; to care for; (b) unfavorably: to seek vengeance for; to punish for; (2) militarily: (a) “to muster; to enroll”; (b) “to inspect; to review”; (3) leadership: (a) “to rule over; to oversee”; (b) Hiphil: “to appoint an overseer” (see BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד; HALOT 955-58 s.v. פקד). In this context, the nuance “to punish” or “to take vengeance” (see 1b above) is most appropriate. Cf. KJV, ASV “I will avenge”; NAB, NASB, NRSV “I will punish.”

[1:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV “family”; CEV “descendants.”

[1:4]  ¹⁰ tn The plural form of דָּם (dam, “blood”) refers to “bloodshed” (BDB 196 s.v. דָּם 2.f). This is an example of a plural of abnormal condition (GKC 400 §124.n). The plural is used to represent natural objects which are found in an unnatural or abnormal condition. The plural is used because the natural object is normally found as a whole or in one unit, but in the abnormal condition the object is found in many parts. Normally, blood is contained as a whole within the body. However, when a brutal murder occurs, blood is shed and literally spilled all over the place. Cf. NIV “the massacre”; TEV, CEV, NLT “the murders.”

[1:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will visit the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu.”

[1:4]  ¹² tn Heb “the kingdom of the house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:4]  ¹³ sn The proper name יִזְרְעֶאל (yizré’e’l, “Jezreel”) sounds like יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”). This phonetic wordplay associates the sin at Jezreel with the judgment on Israel, stressing poetic justice.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “In that day” (so NIV; NAB, NRSV “On that day”).

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will break the bow” (so NAB, NRSV). The phrase “break the bow” (וְשַׁבָרְתִּי אֶת־קֶשֶׁת, véshavarti ’et-qeshet) is figurative. The term קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”) frequently refers to the warrior’s weapon (2 Sam 22:35; Ps 18:35; Job 20:24; Hos 2:20; Zech 9:10; 10:4). The reference to the warrior’s bow is a synecdoche of specific (bow) for general (military weaponry or power; see HALOT 1155 s.v. קֶשֶׁת 3). The noun קֶשֶׁת is used figuratively for “power” several times (e.g., Gen 49:24; 1 Sam 2:4; Jer 49:35; Job 29:20; Ps 37:15; BDB 906 s.v. 1.e).

[1:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Then he said”; the referent (the Lord) does not appear in Hebrew, but has been specified in the translation for clarity. Many English versions specify the speaker here (KJV “God”; ASV “Jehovah”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “the Lord”).

[1:6]  ¹⁷ sn The negative particle לאֹ (lo’, “no, not”) and the root רָחַם (rakham, “compassion”) are repeated in 1:6, creating a wordplay between the name Lo-Ruhamah (literally “No-Pity”) and the announcement of divine judgment, “I will no longer have pity on the nation of Israel.”

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “house”; cf. TEV, NLT “the people of Israel.”

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) probably denotes cause (so NCV, TEV, CEV) or result here (GKC 505 §166.b; BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to take away”) frequently denotes “to forgive” meaning to take away sin (BDB 671 s.v. נָשָׂא 3.c). The construction נָשׂא אֶשָּׂא (naso’ ’esa’, “I will certainly take away,” infinitive absolute + imperfect of the same root) repeats the root נָשָׂא for rhetorical emphasis, stressing the divine resolution not to forgive Israel.

[1:6]  ²¹ tn The phrase “their guilt” does not appear in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The ellipsis of the accusative direct object of נָשׂא אֶשָּׂא (naso’ ’esa’, “I will certainly take away”) is an example of brachyology. The accusative “guilt” must be supplied frequently with נָשַׂא (see BDB 671 s.v. נָשָׂא 3.c; e.g., Num 14:19; Isa 2:9; Ps 99:8). Many recent English versions simplify this to “forgive them” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[1:7]  ²² tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”

[1:7]  ²³ 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”).

[1:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”

[1:7]  ²⁵ sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).

[1:8]  ²⁶ tn The preterite וַתִּגְמֹל (vatigmol, literally, “and she weaned”) functions in a synchronic sense with the following preterite וַתַּהַר (vattahar, literally, “and she conceived”) and may be treated in translation as a dependent temporal clause: “When she had weaned…she conceived” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). Other English versions render this as sequential with “After” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).

[1:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Then he said”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity. As in v. 6, many English versions specify the speaker here.

[1:9]  ²⁸ tn The independent personal pronoun אַתֶּם (’attem, “you”) is a plural form, referring to the people of Israel as a whole. To make this clear TEV translates this as third person: “the people of Israel are not my people” (cf. CEV, NLT).

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn The pronominal suffix on the preposition לָכֶם (lakhem, “your”) is a plural form, referring to the people of Israel as a whole.

[1:9]  ³⁰ tc The MT reads לֹא־אֶהְיֶה לָכֶם (lo’-’ehyeh lakhem, “I will not be yours”). The editors of BHS suggest emending the text to לֹא־אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (lo’-’elohekhem, “I will not be your God”). The emendation creates a tighter parallel with the preceding אַתֶּם לֹא עַמִּי (’attem lo’ ’ammi, “you are not my people”). Because of a lack of external evidence, however, the reading of the MT should be retained.

[1:6]  ³¹ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[1:6]  ³² tn Heb “into a planting place for vineyards.”

[1:6]  ³³ tn Heb “pour” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, NRSV “pour down”; NAB “throw down”; NLT “roll.”

[1:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “her stones.” The term stones is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.

[1:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.