Hosea 9:11

The Fertility Worshipers Will Become Infertile

9:11 Ephraim will be like a bird;

what they value ¹  will fly away.

They will not bear children –

they will not enjoy pregnancy –

they will not even conceive! ² 

Hosea 12:3

Israel Must Return to the God of Jacob

12:3 In the womb he attacked his brother;

in his manly vigor he struggled ³  with God.

Hosea 9:16

9:16 Ephraim will be struck down ⁴  –

their root will be dried up;

they will not yield any fruit.

Even if they do bear children,

I will kill their precious offspring.

[9:11]  ¹ tn Heb “their glory” (so NASB); TEV “Israel’s greateness.”

[9:11]  ² tn Heb “no childbearing, no pregnancy, no conception.” The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to the three parallel nouns functions in a privative sense, indicating deprivation (BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7).

[12:3]  ³ tn The verb שָׂרָה (sarah) means “to strive, contend” (HALOT 1354 s.v. שׂרה) or “persevere, persist” (BDB 975 s.v. שָׂרָה; see Gen 32:29). Almost all English versions render the verb here in terms of the former: NAB, NASB “contended”; NRSV “strove”; TEV, CEV “fought against.”

[9:16]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, following the plant metaphor, “will be blighted” (NIV similar).