Hosea 7:8-9

Israel Lacks Discernment and Refuses to Repent

7:8 Ephraim has mixed itself like flour ¹  among the nations;

Ephraim is like a ruined cake of bread that is scorched on one side. ² 

7:9 Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced, ³ 

but he does not recognize it!

His head is filled with gray hair,

but he does not realize it!

[7:8]  ¹ tn The words “like flour” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied by the imagery.

[7:8]  ² tn Heb “a cake of bread not turned.” This metaphor compares Ephraim to a ruined cake of bread that was not turned over in time to avoid being scorched and burned (see BDB 728 s.v. עֻגָה). Cf. NLT “as worthless as a half-baked cake.”

[7:9]  ³ tn Heb “foreigners consume his strength”; NRSV “devour (sap NIV) his strength.”