Exodus 23:33

23:33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare ¹  to you.”

Psalms 73:27

73:27 Yes, ²  look! Those far from you ³  die;

you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. ⁴ 

Psalms 106:39

106:39 They were defiled by their deeds,

and unfaithful in their actions. ⁵ 

Hosea 2:2

Idolatrous Israel Will Be Punished Like a Prostitute

2:2 Plead earnestly ⁶  with your ⁷  mother

(for ⁸  she is not my wife, and I am not her husband),

so that ⁹  she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle, ¹⁰ 

and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior. ¹¹ 

Hosea 4:12-14

4:12 They consult their wooden idols,

and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle.

The wind of prostitution blows them astray;

they commit spiritual adultery ¹²  against their God.

4:13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops,

and burn offerings on the hills;

they sacrifice ¹³  under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is so pleasant.

As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes,

and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution,

nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery.

For the men consort with harlots,

they sacrifice with temple prostitutes.

It is true: ¹⁴  “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin!”

[23:33]  ¹ tn The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about contact with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business. They were very syncretistic, and so it would be dangerous to settle among them.

[73:27]  ² tn Or “for.”

[73:27]  ³ sn The following line defines the phrase far from you in a spiritual sense. Those “far” from God are those who are unfaithful and disloyal to him.

[73:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “everyone who commits adultery from you.”

[106:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they committed adultery in their actions.” This means that they were unfaithful to the Lord (see Ps 73:27).

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “Plead with your mother, plead!” The imperative רִיבוּ (rivu, “plead!”) is repeated twice in this line for emphasis. This rhetorical expression is handled in a woodenly literal sense by most English translations: NASB “Contend…contend”; NAB “Protest…protest!”; NIV “Rebuke…rebuke”; NRSV “Plead…plead”; CEV “Accuse! Accuse your mother!”

[2:2]  ⁷ sn The suffix on the noun אִמְּכֶם (’immékhem, “your mother”) is a plural form (2nd person masculine). The children of Gomer represent the “children” (i.e., people) of Israel; Gomer represents the nation as a whole.

[2:2]  ⁸ tn The particle כִּי (ki) introduces a parenthetical explanatory clause (however, cf. NCV “because”).

[2:2]  ⁹ tn The dependent volitive sequence of imperative followed by vav + jussive (רִיבוּ, rivu followed by וְתָסֵר, vétaser) creates a purpose clause: “so that she might turn away from” (= “put an end to”); cf. NRSV “that she put away”; KJV “let her therefore put away.” Many English translations begin a new sentence here, presumably to improve the English style (so NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT), but this obscures the connection with the preceding clause.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “put away her adulteries from her face.” The plural noun זְנוּנֶיהָ (zénuneha, “adulteries”) is an example of the plural of repeated (or habitual) action: she has had multiple adulterous affairs.

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[put away] her immoral behavior from between her breasts.” Cf. KJV “her adulteries”; NIV “the unfaithfulness.”

[4:12]  ¹² tn Heb “adultery.” The adjective “spiritual” is supplied in the translation to clarify that apostasy is meant here.

[4:13]  ¹³ tn The phrase “they sacrifice” is not repeated in the Hebrew text here but is implied by parallelism; it is provided in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[4:14]  ¹⁴ tn The words “it is true” are supplied in the translation to indicate that this is a conclusion drawn on the preceding behavior. Cf. NAB “So must a people”; NRSV “thus a people”; TEV “As the proverb says, ‘A people.’”