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 8:1

God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel

8:1 Sound the alarm! ² 

An eagle ³  looms over the temple of the Lord!

For they have broken their covenant with me, ⁴ 

and have rebelled against my law.

Hosea 4:6

4:6 You have destroyed ⁵  my people

by failing to acknowledge me!

Because you refuse to acknowledge me, ⁶ 

I will reject you as my priests.

Because you reject ⁷  the law of your God,

I will reject ⁸  your descendants.

Hosea 4:13

4:13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops,

and burn offerings on the hills;

they sacrifice ⁹  under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is so pleasant.

As a result, your daughters have become cult prostitutes,

and your daughters-in-law commit adultery!

Hosea 4:4

The Lord’s Dispute against the Sinful Priesthood

4:4 Do not let anyone accuse or contend against anyone else: ¹⁰ 

for my case is against you priests! ¹¹ 

Hosea 4:14

4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution,

nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery.

For the men consort with harlots,

they sacrifice with temple prostitutes.

It is true: ¹²  “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin!”

Hosea 13:1

Baal Worshipers and Calf Worshipers to be Destroyed

13:1 When Ephraim ¹³  spoke, ¹⁴  there was terror; ¹⁵ 

he was exalted ¹⁶  in Israel,

but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died.

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

[8:1]  ² tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”

[8:1]  ³ tn Or perhaps “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[8:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”

[4:6]  ³ tn Heb “they have destroyed” or “my people are destroyed” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[4:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “Because you reject knowledge”; NLT “because they don’t know me.”

[4:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “have forgotten”; NAB, NIV “have ignored.”

[4:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “forget” (so KJV, NRSV); NLT “forget to bless.”

[4:13]  ⁴ tn The phrase “they sacrifice” is not repeated in the Hebrew text here but is implied by parallelism; it is provided in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[4:4]  ⁵ tn Or “Let no one contend or accuse.”

[4:4]  ⁶ tc The MT reads וְעַמְּךָ כִּמְרִיבֵי כֹהֵן (vÿ’ammÿkha kimrive khohen): “And your people [are] like those who contend against the priest.” This is reflected in the LXX and the versions; however, it is syntactically awkward and makes little sense in context. Several textual critics suggest emending the text to read וְעִמְּךָ רִיבִי כֹהֵן (vÿ’immÿkha rivi khohen): “My contention is with/against you, O priest!” This involves (1) the revocalization of עַמְּךָ (“your people”) to עִמְּךָ (“with/against you”) and (2) positing dittography (a letter written twice instead of once) of כְּ (kaf) between original וְעַמְּךָ רִיבִי to create וְעַמְּךָ כִּרִיבִי (MT). The BHS editors suggest that the MT is corrupt and should be emended. However, the editors of the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project retain the MT reading with a “B” rating. Likewise, the English translations are split: (1) KJV “for thy people are as they that strive with the priest”; NASB “for your people are like those who contend with the priest”; NIV “for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest”; (2) RSV “for with you is my contention, O priest”; NJPS “for this your people has a grievance against [you], O priest!”; TEV “my complaint is against you priests”; CEV “My case is against you, the priests!”

[4:14]  ⁶ tn The words “it is true” are supplied in the translation to indicate that this is a conclusion drawn on the preceding behavior. Cf. NAB “So must a people”; NRSV “thus a people”; TEV “As the proverb says, ‘A people.’”

[13:1]  ⁷ sn In Hosea the name “Ephraim” does not refer to the tribe, but to the region of Mount Ephraim where the royal residence of Samaria was located. It functions as a synecdoche of location (Mount Ephraim) for its inhabitants (the king of Samaria; e.g., 5:13; 8:8, 10).

[13:1]  ⁸ tn The rulers of Ephraim (i.e., Samaria) issued many political decisions in the 8th century b.c. which brought “terror” to the other regions of the Northern Kingdom, as well as to Judah: “hearts shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind” (Isa 7:2; 2 Kgs 16:5).

[13:1]  ⁹ tn The noun רְתֵת (rÿtet, “terror, trembling”) appears only here in OT (BDB 958 s.v. רְתֵת; HALOT 1300-1301 s.v. רְתֵת). However, it is attested in 1QH 4:33 where it means “trembling” and is used as a synonym with רַעַד (ra’ad, “quaking”). It also appears in Mishnaic Hebrew, meaning “trembling” (G. Dalman, Aramäisch-neuhebräisches Handwörterbuch, 406, s.v. רעד). This is the meaning reflected in the Greek recensions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, as well as Jerome’s Latin Vulgate.

[13:1]  ¹⁰ tc The MT vocalizes the consonantal text as נָשָׂא (nasa’, “he exalted”; Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular) which is syntactically awkward. The LXX and Syriac reflect a vocalization tradition of נִשָּׂא (nisa’, “he was exalted”; Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular). The BHS editors suggest that this revocalization should be adopted, and it has been followed by NAB, NIV, NRSV.