Hosea 1:11

1:11 Then the people ¹  of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, ²  and will flourish in the land. ³  Certainly, ⁴  the day of Jezreel will be great!

Hosea 1:1

Superscription

1:1 ⁵ This is the word of the Lord which was revealed to Hosea ⁶  son of Beeri during the time when ⁷  Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled Judah, ⁸  and during the time when Jeroboam son of Joash ⁹  ruled Israel. ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 29:1

David Is Rejected by the Philistine Leaders

29:1 The Philistines assembled all their troops ¹¹  at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel.

1 Samuel 29:1

David Is Rejected by the Philistine Leaders

29:1 The Philistines assembled all their troops ¹²  at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel.

1 Raja-raja 18:45

18:45 Meanwhile the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind blew, and there was a heavy rainstorm. Ahab rode toward ¹³  Jezreel.

1 Raja-raja 18:2

18:2 So Elijah went to make an appearance before Ahab.

Now the famine was severe in Samaria. ¹⁴ 

1 Raja-raja 10:1-14

Solomon Entertains a Queen

10:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, ¹⁵  she came to challenge ¹⁶  him with difficult questions. ¹⁷  10:2 She arrived in Jerusalem ¹⁸  with a great display of pomp, ¹⁹  bringing with her camels carrying spices, ²⁰  a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. 10:3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king. ²¹  10:4 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, ²²  the palace ²³  he had built, 10:5 the food in his banquet hall, ²⁴  his servants and attendants, ²⁵  their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed. ²⁶  10:6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight ²⁷  was true! 10:7 I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! ²⁸  Your wisdom and wealth ²⁹  surpass what was reported to me. 10:8 Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy! ³⁰  10:9 May the Lord your God be praised because he favored ³¹  you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions.” ³²  10:10 She gave the king 120 talents ³³  of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched. ³⁴  10:11 (Hiram’s fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of fine timber and precious gems. 10:12 With the timber the king made supports ³⁵  for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments ³⁶  for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day. ³⁷ ) 10:13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her. ³⁸  Then she left and returned ³⁹  to her homeland with her attendants.

Solomon’s Wealth

10:14 Solomon received 666 talents ⁴⁰  of gold per year, ⁴¹ 

Hosea 2:21

Agricultural Fertility Restored to the Repentant Nation

2:21 “At that time, ⁴²  I will willingly respond,” ⁴³  declares the Lord.

“I will respond to the sky,

and the sky ⁴⁴  will respond to the ground;

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “sons” (twice in this verse, so NASB); KJV, ASV “children”; NIV, NRSV, TEV “people.”

[1:11]  ² tn Heb “head” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[1:11]  ³ tn Alternatively, “gain possession of the land” (cf. NRSV) or “rise up from the land” (cf. NIV). This clause may be understood in two ways: (1) Israel will gain ascendancy over the land or conquer the land (e.g., Exod 1:10; cf. NAB “come up from other lands”) or (2) Israel will be “planted” in the land (Hos 2:24-25; cf. NLT “will…plant his people”).

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Or “For” (so NASB); NCV “because”; TEV “Yes.”

[1:1]  ⁵ tc The textual problems in Hosea are virtually unparalleled in the OT. The Masoretic Text (MT), represented by the Leningrad Codex (c. a.d. 1008), which served as the basis for both BHK and BHS, and the Aleppo Codex (c. a.d. 952), are textually corrupt by all accounts and have a multitude of scribal errors. Many medieval Masoretic mss preserve textual variants that differ from the Leningrad and Aleppo Codices. The Qumran materials (4QXII^c,d,g) contain numerous textual variants that differ from the MT; unfortunately, these texts are quite fragmentary (frequently in the very place that an important textual problem appears). The textual tradition and translation quality of the LXX and the early Greek recensions (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) is mixed; in some places they are inferior to the MT but in other places they preserve a better reading. The textual apparatus of BHK and BHS contains many proposed emendations based on the ancient versions (Greek, Syriac, Latin, Aramaic) that often appear to be superior readings than what is preserved in the MT. In numerous cases, the MT readings are so difficult morphologically, syntactically, and contextually that conservative conjectural emendations are necessary to make sense of the text. Most major English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, RSV, NEB, NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV, NKJV, NJPS, NJB, NRSV, REB, NCV, CEV, NLT) adopt (either occasionally or frequently) textual variants reflected in the versions and occasionally adopt conservative conjectural emendations proposed in BHK and/or BHS. However, many of the textual problems in Hosea are so difficult that the English versions frequently are split among themselves. With this in mind, the present translation of Hosea must necessarily be viewed as only preliminary. Further work on the text and translation of Hosea is needed, not only in terms of the NET Bible but in Hosea studies in general. The text of Hosea should be better clarified when the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project completes work on the book of Hosea. For further study of textual problems in Hosea, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:228-71.

[1:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which was to Hosea.” The words “This is” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the days of” (again later in this verse). Cf. NASB “during the days of”; NIV “during the reigns of”; NLT “during the years when.”

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

[1:1]  ⁹ sn Joash is a variation of the name Jehoash. Some English versions use “Jehoash” here (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.”

[29:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “camps.”

[29:1]  ¹² tn Heb “camps.”

[18:45]  ¹³ tn Heb “rode and went to.”

[18:2]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[10:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the report about Solomon.” The Hebrew text also has, “to the name of the Lord,” which fits very awkwardly in the sentence. If retained, perhaps it should be translated, “because of the reputation of the Lord.” The phrase, which is omitted in the parallel passage in 2 Chr 9:1, may be an addition based on the queen’s declaration of praise to the Lord in v. 9.

[10:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “test.”

[10:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “riddles.”

[10:2]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “with very great strength.” The Hebrew term חַיִל (khayil, “strength”) may refer here to the size of her retinue (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or to the great wealth she brought with her.

[10:2]  ²⁰ tn Or “balsam oil.”

[10:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “Solomon declared to her all her words; there was not a word hidden from the king which he did not declare to her.” If riddles are specifically in view (see v. 1), then one might translate, “Solomon explained to her all her riddles; there was no riddle too complex for the king.”

[10:4]  ²² tn Heb “all the wisdom of Solomon.”

[10:4]  ²³ tn Heb “house.”

[10:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the food on his table.”

[10:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the seating of his servants and the standing of his attendants.”

[10:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “there was no breath still in her.”

[10:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “about your words [or perhaps, “deeds”] and your wisdom.”

[10:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the half was not told to me.”

[10:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “good.”

[10:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “How happy are your men! How happy are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually, who hear your wisdom!”

[10:9]  ³¹ tn Or “delighted in.”

[10:9]  ³² tn Heb “to do justice and righteousness.”

[10:10]  ³³ tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 9,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “five tons”; TEV “4,000 kilogrammes.”

[10:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “there has not come like those spices yet for quantity which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”

[10:12]  ³⁵ tn This Hebrew architectural term occurs only here. The meaning is uncertain; some have suggested “banisters” or “parapets”; cf. TEV, NLT “railings.” The parallel passage in 2 Chr 9:11 has a different word, meaning “tracks,” or perhaps “steps.”

[10:12]  ³⁶ tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither” [?]), and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

[10:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “there has not come thus, the fine timber, and there has not been seen to this day.”

[10:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “besides what he had given her according to the hand of King Solomon.”

[10:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “turned and went.”

[10:14]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 50,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV); CEV, NLT “twenty-five tons”; TEV “almost 23,000 kilogrammes.”

[10:14]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.”

[2:21]  ⁴² tn Heb “And in that day”; NAB, NRSV “On that day.”

[2:21]  ⁴³ tn The verb עָנָה, (’anah) which is used throughout 2:23-24, is related to the root I עָנָה (’anah), “to answer, listen attentively, react willingly” (BDB 772 s.v. 1.b; HALOT 852 s.v. ענה 3.b).

[2:21]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and they.” In the Hebrew text the plural pronoun is used because it refers back to the term translated “sky,” which is a dual form in Hebrew. Many English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV) use the plural term “heavens” here, which agrees with a plural pronoun (cf. also NIV, NCV “skies”).