Psalms 78:34-36

78:34 When he struck them down, ¹  they sought his favor; ² 

they turned back and longed for God.

78:35 They remembered that God was their protector, ³ 

and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. ⁴ 

78:36 But they deceived him with their words, ⁵ 

and lied to him. ⁶ 

Hosea 5:15--6:4

5:15 Then I will return again to my lair

until they have suffered their punishment. ⁷ 

Then they will seek me; ⁸ 

in their distress they will earnestly seek me.

Superficial Repentance Breeds False Assurance of God’s Forgiveness

6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!

He himself has torn us to pieces,

but he will heal us!

He has injured ⁹  us,

but he will bandage our wounds!

6:2 He will restore ¹⁰  us in a very short time; ¹¹ 

he will heal us in a little while, ¹² 

so that we may live in his presence.

6:3 So let us acknowledge him! ¹³ 

Let us seek ¹⁴  to acknowledge ¹⁵  the Lord!

He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn,

as certainly as the winter rain comes,

as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.”

Transitory Faithfulness and Imminent Judgment

6:4 What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim?

What am I going to do with you, O Judah?

For ¹⁶  your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; ¹⁷ 

it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew! ¹⁸ 

[78:34]  ¹ tn Or “killed them,” that is, killed large numbers of them.

[78:34]  ² tn Heb “they sought him.”

[78:35]  ³ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[78:35]  ⁴ tn Heb “and [that] God Most High [was] their redeemer.”

[78:36]  ⁵ tn Heb “with their mouth.”

[78:36]  ⁶ tn Heb “and with their tongue they lied to him.”

[5:15]  ⁷ tn The verb יֶאְשְׁמוּ (ye’shÿmu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from אָשַׁם, ’asham, “to be guilty”) means “to bear their punishment” (Ps 34:22-23; Prov 30:10; Isa 24:6; Jer 2:3; Hos 5:15; 10:2; 14:1; Zech 11:5; Ezek 6:6; BDB 79 s.v. אָשַׁם 3). Many English versions translate this as “admit their guilt” (NIV, NLT) or “acknowledge their guilt” (NASB, NRSV), but cf. NAB “pay for their guilt” and TEV “have suffered enough for their sins.”

[5:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “seek my face” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “seek my presence.”

[6:1]  ⁹ tn “has struck”; NRSV “struck down.”

[6:2]  ¹⁰ tn The Piel of חָיָה (khayah) may mean: (1) to keep/preserve persons alive from the threat of premature death (1 Kgs 20:31; Ezek 13:18; 18:27); (2) to restore the dead to physical life (Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6; cf. NCV “will put new life in us”); or (3) to restore the dying back to life from the threat of death (Ps 71:20; BDB 311 s.v. חָיָה).

[6:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “after two days” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV). The expression “after two days” is an idiom meaning “after a short time” (see, e.g., Judg 11:4; BDB 399 s.v. יוֹם 5.a).

[6:2]  ¹² tn Heb “on the third day” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV), which parallels “after two days” and means “in a little while.” The “2-3” sequence is an example of graded numerical parallelism (Prov 30:15-16, 18-19, 21-23, 24-28, 29-31). This expresses the unrepentant overconfidence of Israel that the Lord’s discipline of Israel would be relatively short and that he would restore them quickly.

[6:3]  ¹³ tn The object (“him”) is omitted in the Hebrew text, but supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “let us pursue in order to know.” The Hebrew term רָדַף (radaf, “to pursue”) is used figuratively: “to aim to secure” (BDB 923 s.v. רָדַף 2). It describes the pursuit of a moral goal: “Do not pervert justice…nor accept a bribe…pursue [רָדַף] justice” (Deut 16:20); “those who pursue [רָדַף] righteousness and who seek [בָּקַשׁ, baqash] the Lord” (Isa 51:1); “He who pursues [רָדַף] righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor” (Prov 21:20); “Seek [בָּקַשׁ] peace and pursue [רָדַף] it” (Ps 34:15); “they slander me when I pursue [רָדַף] good” (Ps 38:21).

[6:3]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew infinitive construct with לְ (lamed) denotes purpose: “to know” (לָדַעַת, lada’at).

[6:4]  ¹⁶ tn The vav prefixed to וְחַסְדְּכֶם (vÿkhasdÿkhem, “your faithfulness”) functions in an explanatory sense (“For”).

[6:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your faithfulness [so NCV; NASB “your loyalty”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “your love”] is like a morning cloud” (וְחַסְדְּכֶם כַּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר, vÿkhasdÿkhem ka’anan-boqer).

[6:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the dew departing early” (BDB 1014 s.v. שָׁכַם); cf. NRSV “the dew that goes away early.” The Hiphil participle מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) means “to depart early” (Gen 19:27; Josh 8:14; Judg 19:9). The idiom means “early morning” (1 Sam 17:16).