Discovery BoxHosea 2:18
Context2:18 “At that time 1 I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals,
the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground.
I will abolish 2 the warrior’s bow and sword
– that is, every weapon of warfare 3 – from the land,
and I will allow them to live securely.” 4
Hosea 5:13
Context5:13 When Ephraim saw 5 his sickness
and Judah saw his wound,
then Ephraim turned 6 to Assyria,
and begged 7 its great king 8 for help.
But he will not be able to heal you!
He cannot cure your wound! 9
[2:18] 1 tn Heb “And in that day” (so KJV, ASV).
[2:18] 2 tn Heb “I will break”; NAB “I will destroy”; NCV “I will smash”; NLT “I will remove.”
[2:18] 3 tn Heb “bow and sword and warfare.” The first two terms in the triad וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה (vÿqeshet vÿkherev umilkhamah, literally, “bow and sword and warfare”) are examples of synecdoche of specific (bow and sword) for general (weapons of war, so CEV). However, they might be examples of metonymy (bow and sword) of association (warfare).
[2:18] 4 tn Heb “and I will cause them to lie down in safety.” The causative nuance (“will make them”) is retained in several English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[5:13] 5 tn Hosea employs three preterites (vayyiqtol forms) in verse 13a-b to describe a past-time situation.
[5:13] 6 tn Heb “went to” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); CEV “asked help from.”
[5:13] 7 tn Heb “sent to” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
[5:13] 8 tc The MT reads מֶלֶךְ יָרֵב (melekh yarev, “a contentious king”). This is translated as a proper name (“king Jareb”) by KJV, ASV, NASB. However, the stative adjective יָרֵב (“contentious”) is somewhat awkward. The words should be redivided as an archaic genitive-construct מַלְכִּי רָב (malki rav, “great king”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) which preserves the old genitive hireq yod ending. This is the equivalent of the Assyrian royal epithet sarru rabbu (“the great king”). See also the tc note on the same phrase in 10:6.
