Hosea 2:22

2:22 then the ground will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;

and they will respond to ‘God Plants’ (Jezreel)! ¹ 

Hosea 2:4

2:4 I will have no pity on her children, ² 

because they are children conceived in adultery. ³ 

Hosea 1:7

1:7 But I will have pity on the nation ⁴  of Judah. ⁵  I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, ⁶  by chariot horses, or by chariots.” ⁷ 

Hosea 3:5

3:5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. ⁸  Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings ⁹  in the future. ¹⁰ 

Hosea 5:4

5:4 Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God;

because a spirit of idolatry ¹¹  controls their heart, ¹² 

and they do not acknowledge the Lord.

Hosea 2:15

2:15 From there I will give back her vineyards to her,

and turn the “Valley of Trouble” ¹³  into an “Opportunity ¹⁴  for Hope.”

There she will sing as she did when she was young, ¹⁵ 

when ¹⁶  she came up from the land of Egypt.

[2:22]  ¹ tn Heb “Jezreel.” The use of the name יִזְרְעֶאל (yizré’e’l, “Jezreel”) creates a powerful three-fold wordplay: (1) The proper name יִזְרְעֶאל (“Jezreel”) is a phonetic wordplay on the similar sounding name יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”): God will answer Israel, that is, Jezreel. (2) The name יִזְרְעֶאל (“Jezreel”) plays on the verb זָרַע (zara’, “to sow, plant”), the immediately following word: וּזְרַעְתִּיהָ (uzéra’tiha, vav + Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 3rd person feminine singular suffix: “I will sow/plant her”). This wordplay creates a popular etymology for יִזְרְעֶאל meaning, “God sows/plants,” which fits well into the agricultural fertility imagery in 2:21-23 [2:23-25]. (3) This positive connotation of יִזְרְעֶאל (“Jezreel”) in 2:21-23[23-25] reverses the negative connotation of יִזְרְעֶאל (“Jezreel”) in 1:4-5 (bloodshed of Jehu in the Jezreel Valley).

[2:4]  ² tn Heb “her sons.” English versions have long translated this as “children,” however; cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT.

[2:4]  ³ tn Heb “sons of adulteries”; KJV “children of whoredoms.”

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”

[1:7]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”

[1:7]  ⁶ sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).

[3:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.”

[3:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “his goodness”; NLT “his good gifts.”

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT “in the last days.”

[5:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “a spirit of harlotries”; NIV “a spirit of prostitution”; TEV “Idolatry has a powerful hold on them.” However, CEV takes this literally: “your constant craving for sex keeps you from knowing me.”

[5:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “is in their heart” (so NIV); NASB, NRSV “is within them.”

[2:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “Valley of Achor,” so named because of the unfortunate incident recorded in Josh 7:1-26 (the name is explained in v. 26; the Hebrew term Achor means “disaster” or “trouble”). Cf. TEV, CEV “Trouble Valley.”

[2:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “door” or “doorway”; cf. NLT “gateway.” Unlike the days of Joshua, when Achan’s sin jeopardized Israel’s mission and cast a dark shadow over the nation, Israel’s future return to the land will be marked by renewed hope.

[2:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “as in the days of her youth” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[2:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “as in the day when” (so KJV, NASB).