Isaiah 46:1-2

The Lord Carries His People

46:1 Bel ¹  kneels down,

Nebo ²  bends low.

Their images weigh down animals and beasts. ³ 

Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. ⁴ 

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ⁵ 

they themselves ⁶  head off into captivity. ⁷ 

Isaiah 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ⁸  to your king, ⁹ 

along with many perfumes. ¹⁰ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ¹¹ 

Hosea 8:9-10

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. ¹² 

8:10 Even though they have hired lovers among the nations, ¹³ 

I will soon gather them together for judgment. ¹⁴ 

Then ¹⁵  they will begin to waste away

under the oppression of a mighty king. ¹⁶ 

Hosea 12:1

12:1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;

he chases the east wind all day;

he multiplies lies and violence.

They make treaties ¹⁷  with Assyria,

and send olive oil as tribute ¹⁸  to Egypt.

[46:1]  ¹ sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.

[46:1]  ² sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.

[46:1]  ³ tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”

[46:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”

[46:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ⁶ tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ⁷ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

[57:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ¹¹ sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.

[8:9]  ¹² tn Or “has hired herself out to lovers”; cf. NIV “has sold herself to lovers.”

[8:10]  ¹³ tn Or “they have hired themselves out to lovers”; cf. NASB “they hire allies among the nations.”

[8:10]  ¹⁴ tn The Piel stem of קָבַץ (qavats) is often used in a positive sense, meaning “to regather” a dispersed people (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ 3.a; BDB 868 s.v. קָבַץ 1.α). However, in Hosea 8:10 it is used in a negative sense, meaning “to assemble (people) for judgment” (e.g., Ezek 20:34; Hos 9:6; HALOT 1063 s.v. 3.e.i). Cf. JPS “I will hold them fast” (in judgment, see the parallel in 9:6).

[8:10]  ¹⁵ tn The vav consecutive + preterite וַיָּחֵלּוּ (vayyakhellu, Hiphil preterite 3rd person common plural from חָלַל, khalal, “to begin”]) denotes temporal subordination to the preceding clause: “then…” (so NLT); cf. TEV, CEV “Soon.”

[8:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a king of princes” (cf. KJV, NASB); TEV “the emperor of Assyria.”

[12:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a treaty” (so NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “a covenant”; NAB “comes to terms.”

[12:1]  ¹⁸ tn The phrase “as tribute” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. NCV “send a gift of olive oil.”