Hosea 2:12

2:12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,

about which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution ¹ 

that my lovers gave to me!”

I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees ²  into an uncultivated thicket,

so that wild animals ³  will devour them.

Hosea 4:3

4:3 Therefore the land will mourn,

and all its inhabitants will perish. ⁴ 

The wild animals, ⁵  the birds of the sky,

and even the fish in the sea will perish.

Hosea 12:11

12:11 Is there idolatry ⁶  in Gilead? ⁷ 

Certainly its inhabitants ⁸  will come to nothing! ⁹ 

Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?

Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

[2:12]  ¹ tn Heb “my wages.” The words “for prostitution” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied for clarity; cf. CEV “gave…as payment for sex.”

[2:12]  ² tn Heb “I will turn them”; the referents (vines and fig trees) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:12]  ³ tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so KJV, NASB); the same expression also occurs in v. 18).

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Or “languish” (so KJV, NRSV); NIV “waste away.”

[4:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so NAB, NIV).

[12:11]  ⁷ tn The noun אָוֶן (’aven) has a broad range of meanings which includes: (1) “wickedness, sin, injustice” (2) “deception, nothingness,” and (3) “idolatry, idolatrous cult” (HALOT 22 s.v. אָוֶן; BDB 19 s.v. אָוֶן). While any of these meanings would fit the present context, the second-half of the verse refers to cultic sins, suggesting that Hosea is denouncing Gilead for its idolatry. Cf. NLT “Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols.”

[12:11]  ⁸ tn The introductory deictic particle אִם (’im) functions as an interrogative and introduces an interrogative clause: “Is there…?” (see HALOT 60 s.v. אִם 5; BDB 50 s.v. אִם 2). The LXX assumed that אִם was being used in its more common function as a conditional particle: “If there….”

[12:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the inhabitants of Gilead) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:11]  ¹⁰ tn The noun שָׁוְא (shav’, “emptiness, nothing”), which describes the imminent judgment of the people of Gilead, creates a wordplay in Hebrew with the noun אָוֶן (’aven, “nothingness” = idolatry). Because Gilead worshiped “nothingness” (idols), it would become “nothing” (i.e., be destroyed).