Hosea 1:5

1:5 At that time, ¹  I will destroy the military power ²  of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”

Hosea 4:9

4:9 I will deal with the people and priests together: ³ 

I will punish them both for their ways,

and I will repay them for their deeds.

Hosea 5:9-10

5:9 Ephraim will be ruined in the day of judgment! ⁴ 

What I am declaring ⁵  to the tribes of Israel will certainly take place! ⁶ 

The Oppressors of the Helpless Will Be Oppressed

5:10 The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers.

I will pour out my rage on them like a torrential flood! ⁷ 

Hosea 7:2

7:2 They do not realize ⁸ 

that I remember all of their wicked deeds.

Their evil deeds have now surrounded them;

their sinful deeds are always before me. ⁹ 

Hosea 7:8

Israel Lacks Discernment and Refuses to Repent

7:8 Ephraim has mixed itself like flour ¹⁰  among the nations;

Ephraim is like a ruined cake of bread that is scorched on one side. ¹¹ 

Hosea 7:11

Israel Turns to Assyria and Egypt for Help

7:11 Ephraim has been like a dove,

easily deceived and lacking discernment.

They called to Egypt for help;

they turned to Assyria for protection.

Hosea 8:8

8:8 Israel will be swallowed up among the nations;

they will be like a worthless piece of pottery.

Hosea 8:11

Sacrifices Ineffective without Moral Obedience

8:11 Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings,

these have become altars for sinning!

Hosea 9:17

9:17 My God will reject them,

for they have not obeyed him;

so they will be fugitives among the nations.

Hosea 13:3

13:3 Therefore they will disappear like ¹²  the morning mist, ¹³ 

like early morning dew that evaporates, ¹⁴ 

like chaff that is blown away ¹⁵  from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

Hosea 14:5-6

14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like a lily,

he will send down his roots like a cedar of ¹⁶  Lebanon.

14:6 His young shoots will grow;

his splendor will be like an olive tree,

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

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

[1:5]  ² 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).

[4:9]  ³ tn Heb “And it shall be, like people, like priest” (so ASV); NAB “The priests shall fare no better than the people.”

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “day of rebuke” (so KJV, NASB); NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT “day of punishment.”

[5:9]  ⁶ tn The verb הוֹדַעְתִּי (hoda’ti, Hiphil perfect 1st person common singular from יָדַע, yada’; Qal “to know,” Hiphil “to make known, declare”) here functions as (1) an instantaneous perfect, representing an action being performed at the same instant that the speaker utters the statement (e.g., Gen 14:22; Deut 8:19; 26:3; 2 Sam 17:11; 19:30; Ps 143:6); or (2) an epistolary perfect, representing a situation in past time from the viewpoint of the recipient of the message but in present time from the viewpoint of the writer (e.g., 1 Kgs 15:19; 2 Chr 2:12). For functions of the perfect tense (suffix-conjugation), see IBHS 486-90 §30.5.1.

[5:9]  ⁷ tn The substantival use of the Niphal participle נֶאֱמָנָה (ne’emanah, “that which is sure”) refers to an event that will occur in the future (BDB 52 s.v. אָמַן 2).

[5:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “like water” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NLT “like a waterfall.” The term מַיִם (mayim, “water”) often refers to literal flood waters (Gen 7:7, 10; 8:3, 7-9; Isa 54:9) and figuratively describes the Lord’s judgment that totally destroys the wicked (BDB 566 s.v. מַי 4.k).

[7:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they do not say in their heart”; TEV “It never enters their heads.”

[7:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they [the sinful deeds] are before my face” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “they are right in front of me.”

[7:8]  ¹¹ tn The words “like flour” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied by the imagery.

[7:8]  ¹² tn Heb “a cake of bread not turned.” This metaphor compares Ephraim to a ruined cake of bread that was not turned over in time to avoid being scorched and burned (see BDB 728 s.v. עֻגָה). Cf. NLT “as worthless as a half-baked cake.”

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

[13:3]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like the early rising dew that goes away”; TEV “like the dew that vanishes early in the day.”

[13:3]  ¹⁶ 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.).

[14:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like Lebanon” (so KJV; also in the following verse). The phrase “a cedar of” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it is supplied in translation for clarity. Cf. TEV “the trees of Lebanon”; NRSV “the forests of Lebanon.”