Hosea 4:17

4:17 Ephraim has attached himself to idols;

Do not go near him!

Hosea 8:12

8:12 I spelled out my law for him in great detail,

but they regard it as something totally unknown ¹  to them!

Hosea 1:3

1:3 So Hosea married ²  Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him.

Hosea 4:9

4:9 I will deal with the people and priests together: ³ 

I will punish them both for their ways,

and I will repay them for their deeds.

Hosea 8:9

The Willful Donkey and the Wanton Harlot

8:9 They have gone up to Assyria,

like a wild donkey that wanders off.

Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers. ⁴ 

Hosea 8:11

Sacrifices Ineffective without Moral Obedience

8:11 Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings,

these have become altars for sinning!

Hosea 9:17

9:17 My God will reject them,

for they have not obeyed him;

so they will be fugitives among the nations.

Hosea 12:2

12:2 The Lord also has a covenant lawsuit ⁵  against Judah;

he will punish Jacob according to his ways

and repay him according to his deeds.

Hosea 12:14

12:14 But Ephraim bitterly ⁶  provoked him to anger;

so he will hold him accountable for the blood he has shed, ⁷ 

his Lord ⁸  will repay him for the contempt he has shown. ⁹ 

Hosea 14:6

14:6 His young shoots will grow;

his splendor will be like an olive tree,

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

Hosea 4:12

4:12 They consult their wooden idols,

and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle.

The wind of prostitution blows them astray;

they commit spiritual adultery ¹⁰  against their God.

Hosea 8:7

The Fertility Cultists Will Become Infertile

8:7 They sow the wind,

and so they will reap the whirlwind!

The stalk does not have any standing grain;

it will not produce any flour.

Even if it were to yield grain,

foreigners would swallow it all up.

Hosea 10:1

Israel is Guilty of Fertility Cult Worship

10:1 Israel was a fertile vine

that yielded fruit.

As his fruit multiplied,

he multiplied altars to Baal. ¹¹ 

As his land prospered,

they adorned the fertility pillars.

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 ¹² on her neck.

I will harness Ephraim.

Let Judah plow! ¹³ 

Let Jacob break up ¹⁴  the unplowed ground for himself!

Hosea 12:4

12:4 He struggled ¹⁵  with an angel and prevailed;

he wept and begged for his favor.

He found God ¹⁶  at Bethel, ¹⁷ 

and there he spoke with him! ¹⁸ 

Hosea 13:13

13:13 The labor pains of a woman will overtake him,

but the baby will lack wisdom;

when the time arrives,

he will not come out of the womb!

Hosea 1:6

1:6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord ¹⁹  said to him, “Name her ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) because I will no longer have pity ²⁰  on the nation ²¹  of Israel. For ²²  I will certainly not forgive ²³  their guilt. ²⁴ 

Hosea 9:4

9:4 They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord;

they will not please him with their sacrifices.

Their sacrifices will be like bread eaten while in mourning;

all those who eat them will make themselves ritually unclean.

For their bread will be only to satisfy their appetite;

it will not come into the temple of the Lord.

[8:12]  ¹ tn Heb “foreign” or “alien”; NASB, NRSV “as a strange thing.”

[1:3]  ¹ tn Heb “so he went and took” (וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּקַּח, vayyelekh vayyiqqakh; so NAB, NRSV).

[4:9]  ¹ tn Heb “And it shall be, like people, like priest” (so ASV); NAB “The priests shall fare no better than the people.”

[8:9]  ¹ tn Or “has hired herself out to lovers”; cf. NIV “has sold herself to lovers.”

[12:2]  ¹ tn The noun רִיב (riv, “dispute”) is used in two contexts: (1) nonlegal contexts: (a) “dispute” between individuals (e.g., Gen 13:7; Isa 58:1; Jer 15:10) or (b) “brawl, quarrel” between people (e.g., Exod 17:7; Deut 25:1); and (2) legal contexts: (a) “lawsuit, legal process” (e.g., Exod 23:3-6; Deut 19:17; 21:5; Ezek 44:24; Ps 35:23), (b) “lawsuit, legal case” (e.g., Deut 1:12; 17:8; Prov 18:17; 25:9), and (c) God’s “lawsuit” on behalf of a person or against his own people (Hos 4:1; 12:3; Mic 6:2; HALOT 1225-26 s.v. רִיב). The term in Hosea refers to a covenant lawsuit in which Yahweh, the suzerain, lodges a legal case against his disobedient vassal, accusing Israel and Judah of breach of covenant which will elicit the covenant curses. Cf. NLT “is bringing a lawsuit.”

[12:14]  ¹ tn The noun תַּמְרוּרִים (tamrurim, “bitter things”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner, modifying the finite verb: “He bitterly provoked Him to anger” (GKC 375 §118.q). The plural form of the noun functions as a plural of intensity: “very bitterly.” For the adverbial function of the accusative, see IBHS 172-73 §10.2.2e.

[12:14]  ² tn Heb “He will leave his blood upon him”; NIV “will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed.”

[12:14]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[12:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “for his contempt” (so NIV); NRSV “for his insults”; NAB “for his outrage.”

[4:12]  ¹ tn Heb “adultery.” The adjective “spiritual” is supplied in the translation to clarify that apostasy is meant here.

[10:1]  ¹ tn The phrase “to Baal” does not appear in the Hebrew text here, but is implied; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NCV “altars for idols”; NLT “altars of their foreign gods.”

[10:11]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “Judah will plow” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV, CEV “Judah must plow.”

[10:11]  ³ tn Or “Jacob will break up.”

[12:4]  ¹ tc The MT vocalizes the consonantal text וָיָּשַׂר (vayyasar, vav consecutive + Qal preterite 3rd person masculine singular from שׂוּר, sur, “to see”); however, parallelism with שָׂרַה (sarah, “he contended”) in 12:3 suggested that it be vocalized as ויּשׂר (vav consecutive + Qal preterite 3rd person masculine singular from שׂרה [“to strive, contend”]). The latter is followed by almost all English versions here.

[12:4]  ² tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:4]  ³ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[12:4]  ⁴ tc The Leningrad Codex and the Allepo Codex both read 1st person common plural עִמָּנוּ (’immanu, “with us”). The LXX and Peshitta both reflect an alternate Hebrew Vorlage of 3rd person masculine singular עִמוֹ (’imo, “with him”). The BHS editors suggest emending the MT in favor of the Greek and Syriac. The internal evidence of 12:4-5 favors the 3rd person masculine singular reading. It is likely that the 1st person common plural ־נוּ reading on עִמָּנוּ arose due to a misunderstanding of the 3rd person masculine singular ־נוּ suffix on יִמְצָאֶנּוּ (yimtsa’ennu, “he found him”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular + 3rd person masculine singular suffix) which was probably misunderstood as the 1st person common plural suffix: “he found us.” Several English versions follow the LXX and Syriac: “there he spoke with him” (RSV, NAB, NEB, NIV, NJPS, TEV). Others follow the MT: “there he spoke with us” (KJV, NASB, CEV). The Hebrew University Old Testament Project, which tends to preserve the MT whenever possible, adopts the MT reading but gives it only a “C” rating. See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:262-63.

[1:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Then he said”; the referent (the Lord) does not appear in Hebrew, but has been specified in the translation for clarity. Many English versions specify the speaker here (KJV “God”; ASV “Jehovah”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “the Lord”).

[1:6]  ² sn The negative particle לאֹ (lo’, “no, not”) and the root רָחַם (rakham, “compassion”) are repeated in 1:6, creating a wordplay between the name Lo-Ruhamah (literally “No-Pity”) and the announcement of divine judgment, “I will no longer have pity on the nation of Israel.”

[1:6]  ³ tn Heb “house”; cf. TEV, NLT “the people of Israel.”

[1:6]  ⁴ tn The particle כִּי (ki) probably denotes cause (so NCV, TEV, CEV) or result here (GKC 505 §166.b; BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

[1:6]  ⁵ tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to take away”) frequently denotes “to forgive” meaning to take away sin (BDB 671 s.v. נָשָׂא 3.c). The construction נָשׂא אֶשָּׂא (naso’ ’esa’, “I will certainly take away,” infinitive absolute + imperfect of the same root) repeats the root נָשָׂא for rhetorical emphasis, stressing the divine resolution not to forgive Israel.

[1:6]  ⁶ tn The phrase “their guilt” does not appear in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The ellipsis of the accusative direct object of נָשׂא אֶשָּׂא (naso’ ’esa’, “I will certainly take away”) is an example of brachyology. The accusative “guilt” must be supplied frequently with נָשַׂא (see BDB 671 s.v. נָשָׂא 3.c; e.g., Num 14:19; Isa 2:9; Ps 99:8). Many recent English versions simplify this to “forgive them” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).