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 2:9

2:9 Therefore, I will take back ⁶  my grain during the harvest time ⁷ 

and my new wine when it ripens; ⁸ 

I will take away my wool and my flax

which I had provided ⁹  in order to clothe her. ¹⁰ 

[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).

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will return and I will take.” The two verbs joined with vav conjunction form a verbal hendiadys in which the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h): אָשׁוּב וְלָקַחְתִּי (’ashuv vÿlaqakhti) means “I will take back.”

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “in its time” (so NAB, NRSV).

[2:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “in its season” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:9]  ⁹ tn The words “which I had provided” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NIV “intended to cover.”

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to cover her nakedness” (so KJV and many other English versions); TEV “for clothing.”