Hosea 2:5

2:5 For their mother has committed adultery;

she who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For she said, “I will seek out ¹  my lovers; ² 

they are the ones who give me my bread and my water,

my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine. ³ 

Hosea 2:12

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

about which she said, “These are my wages for prostitution ⁴ 

that my lovers gave to me!”

I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees ⁵  into an uncultivated thicket,

so that wild animals ⁶  will devour them.

Hosea 9:1

Fertility Cult Festivals Have Intoxicated Israel

9:1 O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly ⁷  like the nations,

for you are unfaithful ⁸  to your God.

You love to receive a prostitute's wages ⁹ 

on all the floors where you thresh your grain.

Hosea 9:10

9:10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness.

I viewed your ancestors ¹⁰  like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season.

Then they came to Baal-Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame –

they became as detestable as what they loved.

Hosea 10:11

Fertility Imagery: Plowing, Sowing, and Reaping

10:11 Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain;

I myself put a fine yoke ¹¹ on her neck.

I will harness Ephraim.

Let Judah plow! ¹² 

Let Jacob break up ¹³  the unplowed ground for himself!

[2:5]  ¹ tn Heb “I will go after” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[2:5]  ² sn This statement alludes to the practice of sexual rites in the Canaanite fertility cult which attempted to secure agricultural fertility from the Canaanite gods (note the following reference to wool, flax, olive oil, and wine).

[2:5]  ³ tn Heb “my drinks.” Many English versions use the singular “drink” here, but cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “wine.”

[2:12]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will turn them”; the referents (vines and fig trees) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so KJV, NASB); the same expression also occurs in v. 18).

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not rejoice unto jubilation”; KJV “Rejoice not…for joy”; NASB “Do not rejoice…with exultation.”

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have committed adultery”; NRSV “you have played the whore.”

[9:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “you love the wages of the prostitute” (NIV similar); NAB “loving a harlot’s hire.”

[9:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fathers”; a number of more recent English versions use the more general “ancestors” here.

[10:11]  ¹³ tc The MT is unintelligible: עַל־טוּב (’al-tuv, “upon a fine [thing]”?). Cf. KJV “I passed over upon her fair neck”; NRSV “I spared her fair neck.” The BHS editors suggest the revocalization עֹל־טוּב (’ol-tuv, “a fine yoke”), followed by many modern English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The noun עֹל (’ol, “yoke”) also appears in 11:4 in a metaphor which compares Israel to a young heifer as well.

[10:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Judah will plow” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV, CEV “Judah must plow.”

[10:11]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Jacob will break up.”