Ezekiel 23:5-9

23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. ¹  She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians ²  – warriors ³  23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired ⁴  – with all their idols. 23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. ⁵  23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ⁶  for whom she lusted.

Ezekiel 23:12-21

23:12 She lusted after the Assyrians – governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 23:13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path. 23:14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, ⁷  23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ⁸  whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them, ⁹  she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁰  23:17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. ¹¹  They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she ¹²  became disgusted with them. 23:18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, ¹³  I ¹⁴  was disgusted with her, just as I ¹⁵  had been disgusted with her sister. 23:19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 23:20 She lusted after their genitals – as large as those of donkeys, ¹⁶  and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions. 23:21 This is how you assessed ¹⁷  the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled ¹⁸  your nipples and squeezed ¹⁹  your young breasts.

Jude 1:6

1:6 You also know that ²⁰  the angels who did not keep within their proper domain ²¹  but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept ²²  in eternal chains ²³  in utter ²⁴  darkness, locked up ²⁵  for the judgment of the great Day.

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ²⁶ 

Jude 1:7

1:7 So also ²⁷  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ²⁸  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ²⁹  in a way similar to ³⁰  these angels, ³¹  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 1:10-18

1:10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. ³²  1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ³³  and because of greed ³⁴  have abandoned themselves ³⁵  to ³⁶  Balaam’s error; hence, ³⁷  they will certainly perish ³⁸  in Korah’s rebellion. 1:12 These men are ³⁹  dangerous reefs ⁴⁰  at your love feasts, ⁴¹  feasting without reverence, ⁴²  feeding only themselves. ⁴³  They are ⁴⁴  waterless ⁴⁵  clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit ⁴⁶  – twice dead, ⁴⁷  uprooted; 1:13 wild sea waves, ⁴⁸  spewing out the foam of ⁴⁹  their shame; ⁵⁰  wayward stars ⁵¹  for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness ⁵²  have been reserved.

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, ⁵³  even prophesied of them, ⁵⁴  saying, “Look! The Lord is coming ⁵⁵  with thousands and thousands ⁵⁶  of his holy ones, 1:15 to execute judgment on ⁵⁷  all, and to convict every person ⁵⁸  of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds ⁵⁹  that they have committed, ⁶⁰  and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ⁶¹  1:16 These people are grumblers and ⁶²  fault-finders who go ⁶³  wherever their desires lead them, ⁶⁴  and they give bombastic speeches, ⁶⁵  enchanting folks ⁶⁶  for their own gain. ⁶⁷ 

Exhortation to the Faithful

1:17 But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ⁶⁸  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁶⁹  1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ⁷⁰  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ⁷¹ 

Jude 1:11

1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, ⁷²  and because of greed ⁷³  have abandoned themselves ⁷⁴  to ⁷⁵  Balaam’s error; hence, ⁷⁶  they will certainly perish ⁷⁷  in Korah’s rebellion.

Jude 1:2

1:2 May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you! ⁷⁸ 

Jude 1:23

1:23 save ⁷⁹  others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy ⁸⁰  on others, coupled with a fear of God, ⁸¹  hating even the clothes stained ⁸²  by the flesh. ⁸³ 

Jeremiah 2:18

2:18 What good will it do you ⁸⁴  then ⁸⁵  to go down to Egypt

to seek help from the Egyptians? ⁸⁶ 

What good will it do you ⁸⁷  to go over to Assyria

to seek help from the Assyrians? ⁸⁸ 

Jeremiah 2:36

2:36 Why do you constantly go about

changing your political allegiances? ⁸⁹ 

You will get no help from Egypt

just as you got no help from Assyria. ⁹⁰ 

Hosea 10:6

10:6 Even the calf idol ⁹¹  will be carried to Assyria,

as tribute for the great king. ⁹² 

Ephraim will be disgraced;

Israel will be put to shame because ⁹³  of its wooden idol. ⁹⁴ 

[23:5]  ¹ tn Heb “while she was under me.” The expression indicates that Oholah is viewed as the Lord’s wife. See Num 5:19-20, 29.

[23:5]  ² tn Heb “Assyria.”

[23:5]  ³ tn The term apparently refers to Assyrian military officers; it is better construed with the description that follows. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:738.

[23:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “lusted after.”

[23:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”

[23:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”

[23:14]  ⁷ tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew term is in Jer 22:14.

[23:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”

[23:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”

[23:16]  ¹⁰ sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).

[23:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “The sons of Babel came to her on a bed of love.”

[23:17]  ¹² tn Heb “her soul.”

[23:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “She exposed her harlotry and she exposed her nakedness.”

[23:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my soul.”

[23:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my soul.”

[23:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “She lusted after their concubines (?) whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys.” The phrase “their concubines” is extremely problematic here. The pronoun is masculine plural, suggesting that the Egyptian men are in view, but how concubines would fit into the picture envisioned here is not clear. Some suggest that Ezekiel uses the term in an idiomatic sense of “paramour,” but this still fails to explain how the pronoun relates to the noun. It is more likely that the term refers here to the Egyptians’ genitals. The relative pronoun that follows introduces a more specific description of their genitals.

[23:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “you took note of.” The Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Qal implies evaluating something and then acting in light of that judgment; here the prophet depicts Judah as approving of her youthful unfaithfulness and then magnifying it at the present time. Some translations assume the verb should be repointed as a Niphal, rendering “you missed” or by extension “you longed for,” but such an extension of the Niphal “to be missing” is otherwise unattested.

[23:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for the sake of,” but the expression is awkward and is better emended to read “to squeeze.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:6]  ²¹ tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”

[1:6]  ²² sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.

[1:6]  ²³ sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.

[1:6]  ²⁴ tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.

[1:6]  ²⁵ tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).

[1:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ²⁹ tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ³⁰ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ³¹ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[1:10]  ³² tn Or “they should naturally comprehend.” The present tense in this context may have a conative force.

[1:11]  ³³ tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ³⁴ tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ³⁵ tn The verb ἐκχέω (ekcew) normally means “pour out.” Here, in the passive, it occasionally has a reflexive idea, as BDAG 312 s.v. 3. suggests (with extra-biblical examples).

[1:11]  ³⁶ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ³⁸ tn The three verbs in this verse are all aorist indicative (“have gone down,” “have abandoned,” “have perished”). Although the first and second could be considered constative or ingressive, the last is almost surely proleptic (referring to the certainty of their future judgment). Although it may seem odd that a proleptic aorist is so casually connected to other aorists with a different syntactical force, it is not unparalleled (cf. Rom 8:30).

[1:12]  ³⁹ tn Grk “these are the men who are.”

[1:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Though σπιλάδες (spilades) is frequently translated “blemishes” or “stains,” such is actually a translation of the Greek word σπίλοι (spiloi). The two words are quite similar, especially in their root or lexical forms (σπιλάς [spila"] and σπίλος [spilos] respectively). Some scholars have suggested that σπιλάδες in this context means the same thing as σπίλοι. But such could be the case only by a stretch of the imagination (see BDAG 938 s.v. σπιλάς for discussion). Others suggest that Jude’s spelling was in error (which also is doubtful). One reason for the tension is that in the parallel passage, 2 Pet 2:13, the term used is indeed σπίλος. And if either Jude used 2 Peter or 2 Peter used Jude, one would expect to see the same word. Jude, however, may have changed the wording for the sake of a subtle wordplay. The word σπιλάς was often used of a mere rock, though it normally was associated with a rock along the shore or one jutting out in the water. Thus, the false teachers would appear as “rocks” – as pillars in the community (cf. Matt 16:18; Gal 2:9), when in reality if a believer got too close to them his faith would get shipwrecked. Some suggest that σπιλάδες here means “hidden rocks.” Though this meaning is attested for the word, it is inappropriate in this context, since these false teachers are anything but hidden. They are dangerous because undiscerning folks get close to them, thinking they are rocks and pillars, when they are really dangerous reefs.

[1:12]  ⁴¹ tc Several witnesses (A C^vid 1243 1846 al), influenced by the parallel in 2 Pet 2:13, read ἀπάταις (apatai", “deceptions”) for ἀγάπαις (agapai", “love-feasts”) in v. 12. However, ἀγάπαις has much stronger and earlier support and should therefore be considered original.

[1:12]  ⁴² tn Or “fearlessly.” The term in this context, however, is decidedly negative. The implication is that these false teachers ate the Lord’s Supper without regarding the sanctity of the meal. Cf. 1 Cor 11:17-22.

[1:12]  ⁴³ tn Grk “shepherding themselves.” The verb ποιμαίνω (poimainw) means “shepherd, nurture [the flock].” But these men, rather than tending to the flock of God, nurture only themselves. They thus fall under the condemnation Paul uttered when writing to the Corinthians: “For when it comes time to eat [the Lord’s Supper,] each one goes ahead with his own meal” (1 Cor 11:21). Above all, the love-feast was intended to be a shared meal in which all ate and all felt welcome.

[1:12]  ⁴⁴ tn “They are” is not in Greek, but resumes the thought begun at the front of v. 12. There is no period before “They are.” English usage requires breaking this into more than one sentence.

[1:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Cf. 2 Pet 2:17. Jude’s emphasis is slightly different (instead of waterless springs, they are waterless clouds).

[1:12]  ⁴⁶ sn The imagery portraying the false teachers as autumn trees without fruit has to do with their lack of productivity. Recall the statement to the same effect by Jesus in Matt 7:16-20, in which false prophets will be known by their fruits. Like waterless clouds full of false hope, these trees do not yield any harvest even though it is expected.

[1:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “having died twice.”

[1:13]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “wild waves of the sea.”

[1:13]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “foaming, causing to foam.” The verb form is intensive and causative. BDAG 360 s.v. ἐπαφρίζω suggests the meaning “to cause to splash up like froth, cause to foam,” or, in this context, “waves casting up their own shameless deeds like (dirty) foam.”

[1:13]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “shames, shameful things.” It is uncertain whether shameful deeds or shameful words are in view. Either way, the picture has taken a decided turn: Though waterless clouds and fruitless trees may promise good things, but deliver nothing, wild sea-waves are portents of filth spewed forth from the belly of the sea.

[1:13]  ⁵¹ sn The imagery of a star seems to fit the nautical theme that Jude is developing. Stars were of course the guides to sailors at night, just as teachers are responsible to lead the flock through a benighted world. But false teachers, as wayward stars, are not fixed and hence offer unreliable, even disastrous guidance. They are thus both the dangerous reefs on which the ships could be destroyed and the false guides, leading them into these rocks. There is a special irony that these lights will be snuffed out, reserved for the darkest depths of eternal darkness.

[1:13]  ⁵² tn Grk “utter darkness of darkness for eternity.” See note on the word “utter” in v. 6.

[1:14]  ⁵³ tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”

[1:14]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).

[1:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.

[1:14]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.

[1:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “against” (κατά [kata] + genitive). English usage is satisfied with “on” at this point, but the parallel is lost in the translation to some degree, for the end of v. 15 says that this judgment is meted out on these sinners because they spoke against him (κατά + genitive).

[1:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “soul.”

[1:15]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “of all their works of ungodliness.” The adverb “thoroughly” is part of the following verb “have committed.” See note on verb “committed” later in this verse.

[1:15]  ⁶⁰ tn The verb in Greek does not simply mean “have committed,” but “have committed in an ungodly way.” The verb ἀσεβέω (asebew) is cognate to the noun ἀσέβεια (asebeia, “ungodliness”). There is no easy way to express this in English, since English does not have a single word that means the same thing. Nevertheless, the tenor of v. 15 is plainly seen, regardless of the translation.

[1:15]  ⁶¹ sn An apparent quotation from 1 En. 1:9. There is some doubt as to whether Jude is actually quoting from the text of 1 Enoch; the text here in Jude differs in some respects from the extant text of this pseudepigraphic book. It is sometimes suggested that Jude may instead have been quoting from oral tradition which had roots older than the written text.

[1:16]  ⁶² tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ⁶³ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  ⁶⁶ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “to their own advantage.”

[1:17]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.

[1:17]  ⁶⁹ sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.

[1:18]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:11]  ⁷² tn Or “they have gone the way of Cain.”

[1:11]  ⁷³ tn Grk “for wages.”

[1:11]  ⁷⁴ tn The verb ἐκχέω (ekcew) normally means “pour out.” Here, in the passive, it occasionally has a reflexive idea, as BDAG 312 s.v. 3. suggests (with extra-biblical examples).

[1:11]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “in.”

[1:11]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “and.” See note on “perish” later in this verse.

[1:11]  ⁷⁷ tn The three verbs in this verse are all aorist indicative (“have gone down,” “have abandoned,” “have perished”). Although the first and second could be considered constative or ingressive, the last is almost surely proleptic (referring to the certainty of their future judgment). Although it may seem odd that a proleptic aorist is so casually connected to other aorists with a different syntactical force, it is not unparalleled (cf. Rom 8:30).

[1:2]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”

[1:23]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “and save.”

[1:23]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “and have mercy.”

[1:23]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “with fear.” But as this contrasts with ἀφόβως (afobw") in v. 12 (without reverence), the posture of the false teachers, it most likely refers to reverence for God.

[1:23]  ⁸² sn The imagery here suggests that the things close to the sinners are contaminated by them, presumably during the process of sinning.

[1:23]  ⁸³ tn Grk “hating even the tunic spotted by the flesh.” The “flesh” in this instance could refer to the body or to the sin nature. It makes little difference in one sense: Jude is thinking primarily of sexual sins, which are borne of the sin nature and manifest themselves in inappropriate deeds done with the body. At the same time, he is not saying that the body is intrinsically bad, a view held by the opponents of Christianity. Hence, it is best to see “flesh” as referring to the sin nature here and the language as metaphorical.

[2:18]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

[2:18]  ⁸⁵ tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).

[2:18]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.

[2:18]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

[2:18]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.

[2:36]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “changing your way.” The translation follows the identification of the Hebrew verb here as a defective writing of a form (תֵּזְלִי [tezÿli] instead of תֵּאזְלִי [te’zÿli]) from a verb meaning “go/go about” (אָזַל [’azal]; cf. BDB 23 s.v. אָזַל). Most modern English versions, commentaries, and lexicons read it from a root meaning “to treat cheaply [or lightly]” (תָּזֵלִּי [tazelli] from the root זָלַל (zalal); cf. HALOT 261 s.v. זָלַל); hence, “Why do you consider it such a small matter to…”

[2:36]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “You will be ashamed/disappointed by Egypt, just as you were ashamed/ disappointed by Assyria.”

[10:6]  ⁹¹ 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]  ⁹² 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]  ⁹³ 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]  ⁹⁴ 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).