Hosea 5:1

Announcement of Sin and Judgment

5:1 Hear this, you priests!

Pay attention, you Israelites! ¹ 

Listen closely, ²  O king! ³ 

For judgment is about to overtake you! ⁴ 

For you were like a trap ⁵  to Mizpah, ⁶ 

like a net ⁷  spread out to catch Tabor. ⁸ 

Hosea 5:13

5:13 When Ephraim saw ⁹  his sickness

and Judah saw his wound,

then Ephraim turned ¹⁰  to Assyria,

and begged ¹¹  its great king ¹²  for help.

But he will not be able to heal you!

He cannot cure your wound! ¹³ 

[5:1]  ¹ tn Heb “O house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “all of Israel’s leaders.”

[5:1]  ² tn Heb “Use the ear”; ASV “give ear.”

[5:1]  ³ tn Heb “O house of the king” (so KJV); NIV “O royal house.”

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “for the judgment is to you”; or “For this accusation is against you.” Cf. NIV “This judgment is against you.”

[5:1]  ⁵ sn The noun פַּח (pakh, “trap”) is used (1) literally of a bird-trap, used in similes and metaphors (Amos 3:5; Prov 7:23; Eccl 9:12), and (2) figuratively to refer to (a) calamities and plots (Job 18:9; 22:10; Pss 91:3; 119:110; 124:7; 140:6; 141:9; 142:4; Prov 22:5; Isa 24:17-18; Jer 18:22; 48:43-44; Hos 9:8) and (b) a source of calamity (Josh 23:13; Pss 11:6; 69:23; Isa 8:14; Hos 5:1; BDB 809 s.v. פַּח).

[5:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “you were a trap to Mizpah.”

[5:1]  ⁷ sn The noun רֶשֶׁת (reshet, “net”) is used (1) literally of a net used to catch birds (Prov 1:17) and (2) in figurative descriptions of the wicked plotting to ensnare their victims (Prov 29:5; Pss 9:16; 10:9; 25:15; 31:5; 35:7; 57:7; 140:6; Job 18:8; BDB 440 s.v. רֶשֶׁת).

[5:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and a net spread out over Tabor.”

[5:13]  ⁹ tn Hosea employs three preterites (vayyiqtol forms) in verse 13a-b to describe a past-time situation.

[5:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “went to” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); CEV “asked help from.”

[5:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sent to” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[5:13]  ¹² tc The MT reads מֶלֶךְ יָרֵב (melekh yarev, “a contentious king”). This is translated as a proper name (“king Jareb”) by KJV, ASV, NASB. However, the stative adjective יָרֵב (“contentious”) is somewhat awkward. The words should be redivided as an archaic genitive-construct מַלְכִּי רָב (malki rav, “great king”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) which preserves the old genitive hireq yod ending. This is the equivalent of the Assyrian royal epithet sarru rabbu (“the great king”). See also the tc note on the same phrase in 10:6.

[5:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “your wound will not depart from you.”