Hosea 1:7

1:7 But I will have pity on the nation ¹  of Judah. ²  I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, ³  by chariot horses, or by chariots.” ⁴ 

Hosea 7:16

7:16 They turn to Baal; ⁵ 

they are like an unreliable bow.

Their leaders will fall by the sword

because their prayers to Baal ⁶  have made me angry.

So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. ⁷ 

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”

[1:7]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”

[1:7]  ⁴ sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).

[7:16]  ⁵ tc The MT reads the enigmatic יָשׁוּבוּ לֹא עָל (yashuvu lo’ ’al) which is taken variously: “they turn, but not upward” (NASB); “they do not turn to the Most High” (NIV); “they return, but not to the most High” (KJV). The BHS editors suggest יָשׁוּבוּ לַבַּעַל (yashuvu labba’al, “they turn to Baal”; so RSV) or יָשׁוּבוּ לַבְּלִיַּעַל (yashuvu labbÿliyya’al, “they turn to Belial”) which is reflected by the LXX.

[7:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “because their tongue.” The term “tongue” is used figuratively, as a metonymy of cause (tongue) for the effect (prayers to Baal).

[7:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “this [will] be for scorn in the land of Egypt”; NIV “they will be ridiculed (NAB shall be mocked) in the land of Egypt.”