Isaiah 17:7-8

17:7 At that time ¹  men will trust in their creator; ² 

they will depend on ³  the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

17:8 They will no longer trust in ⁵  the altars their hands made,

or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made. ⁶ 

Ezekiel 6:9

6:9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize ⁷  how I was crushed by their unfaithful ⁸  heart which turned from me and by their eyes which lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves ⁹  because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices.

Ezekiel 36:25

36:25 I will sprinkle you with pure water ¹⁰  and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols.

Ezekiel 37:23

37:23 They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness ¹¹  by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people and I will become their God.

Hosea 2:16-17

2:16 “At that time,” ¹²  declares the Lord,

“you will call, ¹³  ‘My husband’; ¹⁴ 

you will never again call me, ¹⁵  ‘My master.’ ¹⁶ 

2:17 For ¹⁷  I will remove the names of the Baal idols ¹⁸  from your lips, ¹⁹ 

so that you will never again utter their names!” ²⁰ 

Hosea 14:3

14:3 Assyria cannot save us;

we will not ride warhorses.

We will never again say, ‘Our gods’

to what our own hands have made.

For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!” ²¹ 

Hosea 14:8

14:8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do ²²  with idols anymore!

I will answer him and care for him.

I am like ²³  a luxuriant cypress tree; ²⁴ 

your fruitfulness comes from me! ²⁵ 

[17:7]  ¹ tn Heb “in that day” (so ASV, NASB, NIV); KJV “At that day.”

[17:7]  ² tn Heb “man will gaze toward his maker.”

[17:7]  ³ tn Heb “his eyes will look toward.”

[17:7]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[17:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “he will not gaze toward.”

[17:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and that which his fingers made he will not see, the Asherah poles and the incense altars.”

[6:9]  ⁷ tn The words “they will realize” are not in the Hebrew text; they are added here for stylistic reasons since this clause assumes the previous verb “to remember” or “to take into account.”

[6:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “how I was broken by their adulterous heart.” The image of God being “broken” is startling, but perfectly natural within the metaphorical framework of God as offended husband. The idiom must refer to the intense grief that Israel’s unfaithfulness caused God. For a discussion of the syntax and semantics of the Hebrew text, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:134.

[6:9]  ⁹ tn Heb adds “in their faces.”

[36:25]  ¹⁰ sn The Lord here uses a metaphor from the realm of ritual purification. For the use of water in ritual cleansing, see Exod 30:19-20; Lev 14:51; Num 19:18; Heb 10:22.

[37:23]  ¹¹ tc Heb “their dwellings.” The text as it stands does not make sense. Based on the LXX, a slight emendation of two vowels, including a mater, yields the reading “from their turning,” a reference here to their turning from God and deviating from his commandments. See BDB 1000 s.v. מְשׁוּבָה, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:407.

[2:16]  ¹² tn Heb “And in that day”; NLT “In that coming day.”

[2:16]  ¹³ tc The MT reads תִּקְרְאִי (tiqrÿ’i, “you will call”; Qal imperfect 2nd person feminine singular). The versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) all reflect an alternate Vorlage of תִּקְרָא לִי (tiqra’ li, “she will call me”; Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ, lamed, + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). This textual variant undoubtedly arose under the influence of לִי תִּקְרְאִי (tiqrÿ’i li) which follows. Most English versions follow the reading of the MT (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, CEV), but some follow the ancient versions and read the 3rd person (“she”, so NAB, NCV, TEV).

[2:16]  ¹⁴ tn There are wordplays on the terms אִישׁ (’ish) and בַּעַל (ba’al) here. The term אִישִׁי (’ishi, “my man, husband”) is a title of affection (Gen 2:23; 3:6, 16) as the counterpart to אִשָּׁה (’ishah, “woman, wife”). The term בַּעְלִי (ba’li, “my lord”) emphasizes the husband’s legal position (Exod 21:3; Deut 22:22; 24:4). The relationship will no longer be conditioned on the outward legal commitment but on a new inward bond of mutual affection and love.

[2:16]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads תִקְרְאִי לִי (tiqrÿ’i li, “you will call me”; Qal imperfect 2nd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ, lamed, + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). The versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) all reflect an alternate Vorlage of תִקְרְא לִי (tiqrÿ’ li, “she will call me”; Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). This textual variant is related to the preceding textual issue (see preceding tc note).

[2:16]  ¹⁶ sn There is a wordplay on the terms בַּעְלִי (ba’li, “my master”) and הַבְּעָלִים (habbé’alim, “the Baals”) which are derived from the root בַּעַל (ba’al, “master; lord”). This wordplay is especially effective because the term בַּעַל can refer to one’s husband and is also the name of the Canaanite storm god Baal. Referring to a spouse the term normally means “husband; master.” It was a common, ordinary, nonpejorative term that was frequently used in an interchangeable manner with אִישׁ (’ish, “husband; man”). Due to its similarity in sound to the abhorrent Canaanite fertility god Baal, the repentant Israelites would be so spiritually sensitive that they would refrain from even uttering this neutral term for fear of recalling their former idolatry. The purpose of the exile is to end Israel’s worship of Baal and to remove syncretism.

[2:17]  ¹⁷ tn The vav consecutive prefixed to וַהֲסִרֹתִי (vahasiroti) “I will remove” (vav consecutive + Hiphil perfect 1st person common singular) introduces an explanatory clause.

[2:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Baals.” The singular term בַּעַל (ba’al) refers to the Canaanite god Baal himself, while the plural form הַבְּעָלִים (habbé’alim) refers to the manifestations of the god (i.e., idols; BDB 127 s.v. בָּעַל II.1).

[2:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from her mouth.” In the translation this is rendered as second person for consistency.

[2:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they will no longer be mentioned by their name.”

[14:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “For the orphan is shown compassion by you.” The present translation takes “orphan” as a figurative reference to Israel, which is specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:8]  ²² tn The Hebrew expression מַה־לִּי עוֹד (mah-li ’od) is a formula of repudiation/emphatic denial that God has anything in common with idols: “I want to have nothing to do with […] any more!” Cf., e.g., Judg 11:12; 2 Sam 16:10; 19:23; 1 Kgs 17:18; 2 Kgs 3:13; 2 Chr 35:21; Jer 2:18; Ps 50:16; BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d.(c).

[14:8]  ²³ tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity, as in the majority of English versions (including KJV).

[14:8]  ²⁴ tn Cf. KJV “a green fir tree”; NIV, NCV “a green pine tree”; NRSV “an evergreen cypress.”

[14:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your fruit is found in me”; NRSV “your faithfulness comes from me.”