Hosea 1:2

Symbols of Sin and Judgment: The Prostitute and Her Children

1:2 When the Lord first spoke ¹  through ²  Hosea, he ³  said to him, ⁴  “Go marry ⁵  a prostitute ⁶  who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, ⁷  because the nation ⁸  continually commits spiritual prostitution ⁹  by turning away from ¹⁰  the Lord.”

Hosea 2:2-3

Idolatrous Israel Will Be Punished Like a Prostitute

2:2 Plead earnestly ¹¹  with your ¹²  mother

(for ¹³  she is not my wife, and I am not her husband),

so that ¹⁴  she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle, ¹⁵ 

and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior. ¹⁶ 

2:3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked,

and expose her like she was when she was born.

I will turn her land into a wilderness

and make her country a parched land,

so that I might kill ¹⁷  her with thirst.

Hosea 2:9

2:9 Therefore, I will take back ¹⁸  my grain during the harvest time ¹⁹ 

and my new wine when it ripens; ²⁰ 

I will take away my wool and my flax

which I had provided ²¹  in order to clothe her. ²² 

Hosea 2:13

2:13 “I will punish her for the festival days

when she burned incense to the Baal idols; ²³ 

she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry,

and went after her lovers,

but ²⁴  she forgot me!” ²⁵  says the Lord.

Hosea 4:6

4:6 You have destroyed ²⁶  my people

by failing to acknowledge me!

Because you refuse to acknowledge me, ²⁷ 

I will reject you as my priests.

Because you reject ²⁸  the law of your God,

I will reject ²⁹  your descendants.

Hosea 8:4

The Political and Cultic Sin of Israel

8:4 They enthroned kings without my consent! ³⁰ 

They appointed princes without my approval! ³¹ 

They made idols out of their silver and gold,

but they will be destroyed! ³² 

Hosea 8:14

8:14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces,

and Judah has built many fortified cities.

But I will send fire on their cities;

it will consume their royal citadels.

Hosea 10:11

Fertility Imagery: Plowing, Sowing, and Reaping

10:11 Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain;

I myself put a fine yoke ³³ on her neck.

I will harness Ephraim.

Let Judah plow! ³⁴ 

Let Jacob break up ³⁵  the unplowed ground for himself!

Hosea 13:3

13:3 Therefore they will disappear like ³⁶  the morning mist, ³⁷ 

like early morning dew that evaporates, ³⁸ 

like chaff that is blown away ³⁹  from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

[1:2]  ¹ tn The construct noun תְּחִלַּת (tékhillat, “beginning of”) displays a wider use of the construct state here, preceding a perfect verb דִּבֶּר (dibber, “he spoke”; Piel perfect 3rd person masculine singular) rather than a genitive noun. This is an unusual temporal construction (GKC 422 §130.d). It may be rendered, “When he (= the Lord) began to speak” (cf. ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, and most other modern English versions, all of which are similar). This time-determinative was not correctly understood by the LXX or by the KJV: “The beginning of the word of the Lord.”

[1:2]  ² tn The preposition בְּ (bet) on בְּהוֹשֵׁעַ (bÿhoshea’) is an instrumental use of the preposition (BDB 89 s.v. בְּ III.2.b): “by, with, through Hosea” rather than a directional “to Hosea.” This focuses on the entire prophetic revelation through Hosea to Israel.

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord.” This is redundant in English, so the pronoun has been used in the translation (cf. TEV, NLT).

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “to Hosea.” The proper name is replaced by the pronoun here to avoid redundancy in English (cf. NIV, NCV, NLT).

[1:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “Go, take for yourself” (so NRSV; NASB, NIV “to yourself”). In conjunction with the following phrase this means “marry.”

[1:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “a wife of harlotries.” The noun זְנוּנִים (zÿnunim) means “prostitute; harlot” (HALOT 275-76 s.v. זְנוּנִים). The term does not refer to mere adultery (cf. NIV; also NCV, TEV, CEV “unfaithful”) which is expressed by the root נַאַף (na’af, “adultery”; HALOT 658 s.v. נאף). The plural noun זְנוּנִים (zénunim, literally, “harlotries”) is an example of the plural of character or plural of repeated behavior. The phrase “wife of harlotries” (אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים, ’eshet zénunim) probably refers to a prostitute, possibly a temple prostitute serving at a Baal temple.

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and children of harlotries.” However, TEV takes the phrase to mean the children will behave like their mother (“your children will be just like her”).

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the land.” The term “the land” is frequently used as a synecdoche of container (the land of Israel) for the contained (the people of Israel).

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “prostitution.” The adjective “spiritual” is supplied in the translation to clarify that apostasy is meant here. The construction זָנֹה תִזְנֶה (zanoh tizneh, infinitive absolute + imperfect of the same root) repeats the root זָנַה (zanah, “harlotry”) for rhetorical emphasis. Israel was guilty of gross spiritual prostitution by apostatizing from Yahweh. The verb זָנַה is used in a concrete sense to refer to a spouse being unfaithful in a marriage relationship (HALOT 275 s.v. זנה 1), and figuratively meaning “to be unfaithful” in a relationship with God by prostituting oneself with other gods and worshiping idols (Exod 34:15; Lev 17:7; 20:5, 6; Deut 31:16; Judg 8:27, 33; 21:17; 1 Chr 5:25; Ezek 6:9; 20:30; 23:30; Hos 4:15; Ps 106:39; see HALOT 275 s.v. 2).

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from after.”

[2:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn The particle כִּי (ki) introduces a parenthetical explanatory clause (however, cf. NCV “because”).

[2:2]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[put away] her immoral behavior from between her breasts.” Cf. KJV “her adulteries”; NIV “the unfaithfulness.”

[2:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “and kill her with thirst.” The vav prefixed to the verb (וַהֲמִתִּיהָ, vahamittiha) introduces a purpose/result clause: “in order to make her die of thirst” (purpose) or “and thus make her die of thirst” (result).

[2:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will return and I will take.” The two verbs joined with vav conjunction form a verbal hendiadys in which the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h): אָשׁוּב וְלָקַחְתִּי (’ashuv vÿlaqakhti) means “I will take back.”

[2:9]  ³² tn Heb “in its time” (so NAB, NRSV).

[2:9]  ³³ tn Heb “in its season” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:9]  ³⁴ tn The words “which I had provided” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NIV “intended to cover.”

[2:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to cover her nakedness” (so KJV and many other English versions); TEV “for clothing.”

[2:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the days of the Baals, to whom she burned incense.” The word “festival” is supplied to clarify the referent of “days,” and the word “idols” is supplied in light of the plural “Baals” (cf. NLT “her images of Baal”).

[2:13]  ⁴² tn The vav prefixed to a nonverb (וְאֹתִי, vé’oti) introduces a disjunctive contrastive clause, which is rhetorically powerful.

[2:13]  ⁴³ tn The accusative direct object pronoun וְאֹתִי (vé’oti, “me”) is emphatic in the word order of this clause (cf. NIV “but me she forgot”), emphasizing the heinous inappropriateness of Israel’s departure from the Lord.

[4:6]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “they have destroyed” or “my people are destroyed” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[4:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “Because you reject knowledge”; NLT “because they don’t know me.”

[4:6]  ⁵³ tn Heb “have forgotten”; NAB, NIV “have ignored.”

[4:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “forget” (so KJV, NRSV); NLT “forget to bless.”

[8:4]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “but without me”; NCV “without asking my permission”; CEV “without consulting me.”

[8:4]  ⁶² tn Heb “but I did not know”; NRSV “but without my knowledge.”

[8:4]  ⁶³ 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.

[10:11]  ⁷¹ tc The MT is unintelligible: עַל־טוּב (’al-tuv, “upon a fine [thing]”?). Cf. KJV “I passed over upon her fair neck”; NRSV “I spared her fair neck.” The BHS editors suggest the revocalization עֹל־טוּב (’ol-tuv, “a fine yoke”), followed by many modern English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The noun עֹל (’ol, “yoke”) also appears in 11:4 in a metaphor which compares Israel to a young heifer as well.

[10:11]  ⁷² tn Or “Judah will plow” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV, CEV “Judah must plow.”

[10:11]  ⁷³ tn Or “Jacob will break up.”

[13:3]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “they will be like” (so NASB, NIV).

[13:3]  ⁸² tn The phrase כְּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר (kÿ’anan-boqer, “like a cloud of the morning”) occurs also in Hos 6:4 in a similar simile. The Hebrew poets and prophets refer to morning clouds as a simile for transitoriness (Job 7:9; Isa 44:22; Hos 6:4; 13:3; HALOT 858 s.v. עָנָן 1.b; BDB 778 s.v. עָנָן 1.c).

[13:3]  ⁸³ tn Heb “like the early rising dew that goes away”; TEV “like the dew that vanishes early in the day.”

[13:3]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “storm-driven away”; KJV, ASV “driven with the whirlwind out.” The verb יְסֹעֵר (yÿso’er, Poel imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from סָעַר, sa’ar, “to storm”) often refers to the intense action of strong, raging storm winds (e.g., Jonah 1:11, 13). The related nouns refer to “heavy gale,” “storm wind,” and “high wind” (BDB 704 s.v. סָעַר; HALOT 762 s.v. סער). The verb is used figuratively to describe the intensity of God’s destruction of the wicked whom he will “blow away” (Isa 54:11; Hos 13:3; Hab 3:14; Zech 7:14; BDB 704 s.v.; HALOT 762 s.v.).