Exodus 20:4

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ¹  or any likeness ²  of anything ³  that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 4:14-18

4:14 Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess. ⁵ 

The Nature of Israel’s God

4:15 Be very careful, ⁶  then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. 4:16 I say this ⁷  so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female, 4:17 any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky, 4:18 anything that crawls ⁸  on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters of the earth. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 4:2

4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to ¹⁰  you.

Deuteronomy 10:1

The Opportunity to Begin Again

10:1 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark. ¹¹ 

Deuteronomy 17:16

17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, ¹²  for the Lord has said you must never again return that way.

Deuteronomy 17:2

17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ¹³  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ¹⁴  and breaks his covenant

Deuteronomy 11:15

11:15 I will provide pasture ¹⁵  for your livestock and you will eat your fill.”

Hosea 8:4-7

The Political and Cultic Sin of Israel

8:4 They enthroned kings without my consent! ¹⁶ 

They appointed princes without my approval! ¹⁷ 

They made idols out of their silver and gold,

but they will be destroyed! ¹⁸ 

8:5 O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol!

My anger burns against them!

They will not survive much longer without being punished, ¹⁹ 

even though they are Israelites!

8:6 That idol was made by a workman – it is not God!

The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits.

The Fertility Cultists Will Become Infertile

8:7 They sow the wind,

and so they will reap the whirlwind!

The stalk does not have any standing grain;

it will not produce any flour.

Even if it were to yield grain,

foreigners would swallow it all up.

Hosea 10:5-6

The Calf Idol and Idolaters of Samaria Will Be Exiled

10:5 The inhabitants ²⁰  of Samaria will lament ²¹  over the calf idol ²²  of Beth Aven. ²³ 

Its people will mourn over it;

its idolatrous priests will wail ²⁴  over it, ²⁵ 

because its splendor will be taken from them ²⁶  into exile.

10:6 Even the calf idol ²⁷  will be carried to Assyria,

as tribute for the great king. ²⁸ 

Ephraim will be disgraced;

Israel will be put to shame because ²⁹  of its wooden idol. ³⁰ 

[20:4]  ¹ tn A פֶּסֶל (pesel) is an image that was carved out of wood or stone. The Law was concerned with a statue that would be made for the purpose of worship, an idol to be venerated, and not any ordinary statue.

[20:4]  ² tn The word תְּמוּנָה (tÿmunah) refers to the mental pattern from which the פֶּסֶל (pesel) is constructed; it is a real or imagined resemblance. If this is to stand as a second object to the verb, then the verb itself takes a slightly different nuance here. It would convey “you shall not make an image, neither shall you conceive a form” for worship (B. Jacob, Exodus, 547). Some simply make the second word qualify the first: “you shall not make an idol in the form of…” (NIV).

[20:4]  ³ tn Here the phrase “of anything” has been supplied.

[20:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “under the earth” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[4:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”

[4:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “give great care to your souls.”

[4:16]  ⁷ tn The words “I say this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 16 is subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.

[4:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “creeping thing.”

[4:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “under the earth.”

[4:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “commanding.”

[10:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “chest” (so NIV, CEV); NLT “sacred chest”; TEV “wooden box.” This chest was made of acacia wood; it is later known as the ark of the covenant.

[17:16]  ¹² tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).

[17:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”

[11:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “grass in your field.”

[8:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “but without me”; NCV “without asking my permission”; CEV “without consulting me.”

[8:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “but I did not know”; NRSV “but without my knowledge.”

[8:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in order to be cut off.” The text gives the impression that they made the idols for this purpose, but the language is ironic and sarcastic, bringing out the futility of their efforts. One could paraphrase, “they made idols…but only so that they might be destroyed.” Though they had other plans for the idols, God’s judgment would bring their intentions to naught.

[8:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “How long will they be able to be free from punishment?” This rhetorical question affirms that Israel will not survive much longer until God punishes it.

[10:5]  ²⁰ tc The MT reads the singular construct noun שְׁכַן (shÿkhan, “the inhabitant [of Samaria]”), while the LXX and Syriac reflect the plural construct noun שְׁכַנֵי (shÿkhane, “the inhabitants [of Samaria]”). The singular noun may be a collective referring to the population of Samaria as a whole (BDB 1015 s.v. שָׁכֵן; e.g., Isa 33:24). Most English translations view this as a reference to the inhabitants of the city as a whole (KJV, RSV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJPS, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[10:5]  ²¹ tc The MT reads יָגוּרוּ (yaguru, Qal imperfect 3rd person common plural from III גוּר, gur, “to dread”; see BDB 159 s.v. III גוּר 1). This reading is followed by most English versions but is syntactically awkward because III גוּר (“to dread”) is used nowhere else with the preposition לְ (lamed, “they are in dread for…”?). BDB suggests reading יָנוּדוּ (yanudu, Qal imperfect 3rd person common plural from נוּד, nud, “to lament”; BDB 626 s.v. נוּד 2.a) which harmonizes better with the parallelism with אָבַל (’aval, “to mourn”) in the following line. The verb נוּד (“to lament”) is used with the preposition לְ in the idiom “to lament for” (e.g., Isa 51:19; Jer 15:5; 16:5; 48:17; Nah 3:7). This involves simple orthographic confusion between ג (gimel) and נ (nun), as well as ר (resh) and ד (dalet) which were often confused by the scribes.

[10:5]  ²² tc The MT reads the plural לְעֶגְלוֹת (lÿ’eglot, “for the calves”), while some Greek versions (LXX, Theodotion) and the Syriac reflect the singular לְעֵגֶל (“for the calf [calf idol]”). The singular reading is preferred on the basis of internal evidence: the oracle denounces the calf idol worship of Samaria. The plural form probably arose due to the ambiguity of the term “calf” when a scribe did not realize that the term was being used as a metonymy for the worship of the Egyptian calf goddess. Most recent English versions adopt the singular form and relate it to the calf goddess cult (RSV, NASB, NIV, NCV, NJPS, TEV, CEV, NLT); however, older English versions follow the MT plural (KJV, ASV).

[10:5]  ²³ sn See the note on the place name Beth Aven in 4:15.

[10:5]  ²⁴ tc The MT appears to read יָגִילוּ (yagilu, “they will rejoice”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from גִּיל, gil, “to rejoice”), but this is likely an example of semantic polarization. See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 556-67. The BHS editors propose the reading יְיֵלִילוּ (yÿyelilu, “they will lament”; Hiphil imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from יָלַל, yalal, “to lament”), which also appears in Hos 7:14. If this reading is original, the textual variant may be attributed to: (1) orthographic confusion between ל (lamed) and ג (gimel), and (2) haplography or dittography of י (yod). English versions are split; some follow the MT (KJV, ASV, NIV, NJPS), others the proposed emendation (RSV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[10:5]  ²⁵ tc This line division follows the MT rather than the line division suggested by the BHS editors.

[10:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “from it” (so NAB, NRSV).

[10:6]  ²⁷ 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).

[10:6]  ²⁸ 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.

[10:6]  ²⁹ 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).

[10:6]  ³⁰ 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).