Hosea 2:6

The Lord’s Discipline Will Bring Israel Back

2:6 Therefore, I will soon ¹  fence her in ²  with thorns;

I will wall her in ³  so that ⁴  she cannot find her way. ⁵ 

Hosea 2:14

Future Repentance and Restoration of Israel

2:14 However, in the future I will allure her; ⁶ 

I will lead ⁷  her back into the wilderness,

and speak tenderly to her.

Hosea 2:17

2:17 For ⁸  I will remove the names of the Baal idols ⁹  from your lips, ¹⁰ 

so that you will never again utter their names!” ¹¹ 

Hosea 4:9

4:9 I will deal with the people and priests together: ¹² 

I will punish them both for their ways,

and I will repay them for their deeds.

Hosea 11:6

11:6 A sword will flash in their cities,

it will destroy the bars of their city gates,

and will devour them in their fortresses.

Hosea 14:1

Prophetic Call to Genuine Repentance

14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,

for your sin has been your downfall! ¹³ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn The deictic particle הִנְנִי (hinni, “Behold!”) introduces a future-time reference participle that refers to imminent future action: “I am about to” (TEV “I am going to”).

[2:6]  ² tn Heb “I will hedge up her way”; NIV “block her path.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “I will wall in her wall.” The cognate accusative construction וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת־גְּדֵרָהּ (vÿgadarti ’et-gÿderah, “I will wall in her wall”) is an emphatic literary device. The 3rd person feminine singular suffix on the noun functions as a dative of disadvantage: “as a wall against her” (A. B. Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, 3, remark 2). The expression means “I will build a wall to bar her way.” Cf. KJV “I will make a wall”; TEV “I will build a wall”; RSV, NASB, NRSV “I will build a wall against her”; NLT “I will fence her in.”

[2:6]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (object followed by negated verb) introduces a clause which can be understood as either purpose or result.

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “her paths” (so NAB, NRSV).

[2:14]  ⁶ tn The participle מְפַתֶּיהָ (méfatteha, Piel participle masculine singular + 3rd feminine singular suffix from פָּתָה, patah, “to allure”) following the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “Now!”) describes an event that will occur in the immediate or near future.

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Following the future-time referent participle (מְפַתֶּיהָ, méfatteha) there is a string of perfects introduced by vav consecutive that refer to future events.

[2:17]  ¹¹ tn The vav consecutive prefixed to וַהֲסִרֹתִי (vahasiroti) “I will remove” (vav consecutive + Hiphil perfect 1st person common singular) introduces an explanatory clause.

[2:17]  ¹² tn Heb “the Baals.” The singular term בַּעַל (ba’al) refers to the Canaanite god Baal himself, while the plural form הַבְּעָלִים (habbé’alim) refers to the manifestations of the god (i.e., idols; BDB 127 s.v. בָּעַל II.1).

[2:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “from her mouth.” In the translation this is rendered as second person for consistency.

[2:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they will no longer be mentioned by their name.”

[4:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And it shall be, like people, like priest” (so ASV); NAB “The priests shall fare no better than the people.”

[14:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “For you have stumbled in your iniquity”; NASB, NRSV “because of your iniquity.”