Discovery BoxHosea 1:6-9
Context1:6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord 1 said to him, “Name her ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) because I will no longer have pity 2 on the nation 3 of Israel. For 4 I will certainly not forgive 5 their guilt. 6 1:7 But I will have pity on the nation 7 of Judah. 8 I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, 9 by chariot horses, or by chariots.” 10
1:8 When 11 she had weaned ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) she conceived again and gave birth to another son. 1:9 Then the Lord 12 said: “Name him ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), because you 13 are not my people and I am not your 14 God.” 15
[1:6] 1 tn Heb “Then he said”; the referent (the
[1:6] 2 sn The negative particle לאֹ (lo’, “no, not”) and the root רָחַם (rakham, “compassion”) are repeated in 1:6, creating a wordplay between the name Lo-Ruhamah (literally “No-Pity”) and the announcement of divine judgment, “I will no longer have pity on the nation of Israel.”
[1:6] 3 tn Heb “house”; cf. TEV, NLT “the people of Israel.”
[1:6] 4 tn The particle כִּי (ki) probably denotes cause (so NCV, TEV, CEV) or result here (GKC 505 §166.b; BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 3.c).
[1:6] 5 tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to take away”) frequently denotes “to forgive” meaning to take away sin (BDB 671 s.v. נָשָׂא 3.c). The construction נָשׂא אֶשָּׂא (naso’ ’esa’, “I will certainly take away,” infinitive absolute + imperfect of the same root) repeats the root נָשָׂא for rhetorical emphasis, stressing the divine resolution not to forgive Israel.
[1:6] 6 tn The phrase “their guilt” does not appear in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The ellipsis of the accusative direct object of נָשׂא אֶשָּׂא (naso’ ’esa’, “I will certainly take away”) is an example of brachyology. The accusative “guilt” must be supplied frequently with נָשַׂא (see BDB 671 s.v. נָשָׂא 3.c; e.g., Num 14:19; Isa 2:9; Ps 99:8). Many recent English versions simplify this to “forgive them” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
[1:7] 7 tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”
[1:7] 8 tn The word order in this line is rhetorical, emphasizing the divine decision to withhold pity from Israel but to bestow it on Judah. The accusative direct object, which is introduced by a disjunctive vav (to denote contrast), appears before the verb: וְאֶת־בֵּית יְהוּדָה אֲרַחֵם (vé’et-bet yéhudah ’arakhem, “but upon the house of Judah I will show pity”).
[1:7] 9 tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”
[1:7] 10 sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).
[1:8] 11 tn The preterite וַתִּגְמֹל (vatigmol, literally, “and she weaned”) functions in a synchronic sense with the following preterite וַתַּהַר (vattahar, literally, “and she conceived”) and may be treated in translation as a dependent temporal clause: “When she had weaned…she conceived” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). Other English versions render this as sequential with “After” (NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT).
[1:9] 12 tn Heb “Then he said”; the referent (the
[1:9] 13 tn The independent personal pronoun אַתֶּם (’attem, “you”) is a plural form, referring to the people of Israel as a whole. To make this clear TEV translates this as third person: “the people of Israel are not my people” (cf. CEV, NLT).
[1:9] 14 tn The pronominal suffix on the preposition לָכֶם (lakhem, “your”) is a plural form, referring to the people of Israel as a whole.
[1:9] 15 tc The MT reads לֹא־אֶהְיֶה לָכֶם (lo’-’ehyeh lakhem, “I will not be yours”). The editors of BHS suggest emending the text to לֹא־אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (lo’-’elohekhem, “I will not be your God”). The emendation creates a tighter parallel with the preceding אַתֶּם לֹא עַמִּי (’attem lo’ ’ammi, “you are not my people”). Because of a lack of external evidence, however, the reading of the MT should be retained.
