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. ¹ 

Hosea 2:13

2:13 “I will punish her for the festival days

when she burned incense to the Baal idols; ² 

she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry,

and went after her lovers,

but ³  she forgot me!” ⁴  says the Lord.

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

[2:13]  ² tn Heb “the days of the Baals, to whom she burned incense.” The word “festival” is supplied to clarify the referent of “days,” and the word “idols” is supplied in light of the plural “Baals” (cf. NLT “her images of Baal”).

[2:13]  ³ tn The vav prefixed to a nonverb (וְאֹתִי, vé’oti) introduces a disjunctive contrastive clause, which is rhetorically powerful.

[2:13]  ⁴ tn The accusative direct object pronoun וְאֹתִי (vé’oti, “me”) is emphatic in the word order of this clause (cf. NIV “but me she forgot”), emphasizing the heinous inappropriateness of Israel’s departure from the Lord.