Hosea 5:13-15

5:13 When Ephraim saw ¹  his sickness

and Judah saw his wound,

then Ephraim turned ²  to Assyria,

and begged ³  its great king ⁴  for help.

But he will not be able to heal you!

He cannot cure your wound! ⁵ 

The Lion Will Carry Israel Off Into Exile

5:14 I will be like a lion to Ephraim,

like a young lion to the house of Judah.

I myself will tear them to pieces,

then I will carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them!

5:15 Then I will return again to my lair

until they have suffered their punishment. ⁶ 

Then they will seek me; ⁷ 

in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

[5:13]  ¹ tn Hosea employs three preterites (vayyiqtol forms) in verse 13a-b to describe a past-time situation.

[5:13]  ² tn Heb “went to” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); CEV “asked help from.”

[5:13]  ³ tn Heb “sent to” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[5:13]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “your wound will not depart from you.”

[5:15]  ⁶ tn The verb יֶאְשְׁמוּ (ye’shÿmu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from אָשַׁם, ’asham, “to be guilty”) means “to bear their punishment” (Ps 34:22-23; Prov 30:10; Isa 24:6; Jer 2:3; Hos 5:15; 10:2; 14:1; Zech 11:5; Ezek 6:6; BDB 79 s.v. אָשַׁם 3). Many English versions translate this as “admit their guilt” (NIV, NLT) or “acknowledge their guilt” (NASB, NRSV), but cf. NAB “pay for their guilt” and TEV “have suffered enough for their sins.”

[5:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “seek my face” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “seek my presence.”