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 7:12

7:12 I will throw my bird net over them while they are flying,

I will bring them down like birds in the sky;

I will discipline them when I hear them flocking together.

Hosea 4:3

4:3 Therefore the land will mourn,

and all its inhabitants will perish. ³ 

The wild animals, ⁴  the birds of the sky,

and even the fish in the sea will perish.

Hosea 2:18

New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel

2:18 “At that time ⁵  I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals,

the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground.

I will abolish ⁶  the warrior’s bow and sword

– that is, every weapon of warfare ⁷  – from the land,

and I will allow them to live securely.” ⁸ 

[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).

[4:3]  ³ tn Or “languish” (so KJV, NRSV); NIV “waste away.”

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so NAB, NIV).

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “And in that day” (so KJV, ASV).

[2:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will break”; NAB “I will destroy”; NCV “I will smash”; NLT “I will remove.”

[2:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “bow and sword and warfare.” The first two terms in the triad וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה (vÿqeshet vÿkherev umilkhamah, literally, “bow and sword and warfare”) are examples of synecdoche of specific (bow and sword) for general (weapons of war, so CEV). However, they might be examples of metonymy (bow and sword) of association (warfare).

[2:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will cause them to lie down in safety.” The causative nuance (“will make them”) is retained in several English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).