Hosea 11:6

11:6 A sword will flash in their cities,

it will destroy the bars of their city gates,

and will devour them in their fortresses.

Hosea 1:7

1:7 But I will have pity on the nation ¹  of Judah. ²  I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, ³  by chariot horses, or by chariots.” ⁴ 

Hosea 13:16

13:16 (14:1) ⁵  Samaria will be held guilty, ⁶ 

because she rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword,

their infants will be dashed to the ground –

their ⁷  pregnant women will be ripped open.

Hosea 7:16

7:16 They turn to Baal; ⁸ 

they are like an unreliable bow.

Their leaders will fall by the sword

because their prayers to Baal ⁹  have made me angry.

So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ 

Hosea 2:18

New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel

2:18 “At that time ¹¹  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 ¹²  the warrior’s bow and sword

– that is, every weapon of warfare ¹³  – from the land,

and I will allow them to live securely.” ¹⁴ 

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”

[1:7]  ² tn The word order in this line is rhetorical, emphasizing the divine decision to withhold pity from Israel but to bestow it on Judah. The accusative direct object, which is introduced by a disjunctive vav (to denote contrast), appears before the verb: וְאֶת־בֵּית יְהוּדָה אֲרַחֵם (vé’et-bet yéhudah ’arakhem, “but upon the house of Judah I will show pity”).

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”

[1:7]  ⁴ sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).

[13:16]  ⁵ sn Beginning with 13:16, the verse numbers through 14:9 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 13:16 ET = 14:1 HT, 14:1 ET = 14:2 HT, etc., through 14:9 ET = 14:10 HT. Thus ch. 14 in the Hebrew Bible has 10 verses.

[13:16]  ⁶ tn Or “must bear its guilt” (NIV similar); NLT “must bear the consequences of their guilt”; CEV “will be punished.”

[13:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “his.” This is a collective singular, as recognized by almost all English versions.

[7:16]  ⁸ tc The MT reads the enigmatic יָשׁוּבוּ לֹא עָל (yashuvu lo’ ’al) which is taken variously: “they turn, but not upward” (NASB); “they do not turn to the Most High” (NIV); “they return, but not to the most High” (KJV). The BHS editors suggest יָשׁוּבוּ לַבַּעַל (yashuvu labba’al, “they turn to Baal”; so RSV) or יָשׁוּבוּ לַבְּלִיַּעַל (yashuvu labbÿliyya’al, “they turn to Belial”) which is reflected by the LXX.

[7:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “because their tongue.” The term “tongue” is used figuratively, as a metonymy of cause (tongue) for the effect (prayers to Baal).

[7:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “this [will] be for scorn in the land of Egypt”; NIV “they will be ridiculed (NAB shall be mocked) in the land of Egypt.”

[2:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And in that day” (so KJV, ASV).

[2:18]  ¹² tn Heb “I will break”; NAB “I will destroy”; NCV “I will smash”; NLT “I will remove.”

[2:18]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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).