Hosea 4:3

4:3 Therefore the land will mourn,

and all its inhabitants will perish. ¹ 

The wild animals, ²  the birds of the sky,

and even the fish in the sea will perish.

Hosea 4:1

The Lord’s Covenant Lawsuit against the Nation Israel

4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites! ³ 

For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit ⁴  against the people of Israel. ⁵ 

For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land,

nor do they acknowledge God. ⁶ 

Hosea 10:5

The Calf Idol and Idolaters of Samaria Will Be Exiled

10:5 The inhabitants ⁷  of Samaria will lament ⁸  over the calf idol ⁹  of Beth Aven. ¹⁰ 

Its people will mourn over it;

its idolatrous priests will wail ¹¹  over it, ¹² 

because its splendor will be taken from them ¹³  into exile.

Hosea 14:7

14:7 People will reside again ¹⁴  in his shade;

they will plant and harvest grain in abundance. ¹⁵ 

They will blossom like a vine,

and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

Hosea 3:3-4

3:3 Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or have sexual intercourse with ¹⁶  another man, and I also will wait for you.” 3:4 For the Israelites ¹⁷  must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

Hosea 12:9

12:9 “I am the Lord your God ¹⁸  who brought you ¹⁹  out of Egypt;

I will make you live in tents again as in the days of old. ²⁰ 

Hosea 9:13

9:13 Just as lion cubs are born predators, ²¹ 

so Ephraim will bear his sons for slaughter.

Hosea 10:15

10:15 So will it happen to you, O Bethel, ²² 

because of your great wickedness!

When that day dawns, ²³ 

the king of Israel will be destroyed. ²⁴ 

Hosea 1:11

1:11 Then the people ²⁵  of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, ²⁶  and will flourish in the land. ²⁷  Certainly, ²⁸  the day of Jezreel will be great!

Hosea 4:10

4:10 They will eat, but not be satisfied;

they will engage in prostitution, but not increase in numbers;

because they have abandoned the Lord

by pursuing other gods. ²⁹ 

Hosea 6:9

6:9 The company of priests is like a gang of robbers,

lying in ambush to pounce on a victim.

They commit murder on the road to Shechem;

they have done heinous crimes!

Hosea 8:5

8:5 O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol!

My anger burns against them!

They will not survive much longer without being punished, ³⁰ 

even though they are Israelites!

Hosea 11:11

11:11 They will return in fear and trembling ³¹ 

like birds from Egypt,

like doves from Assyria,

and I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord.

Hosea 2:18

New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel

2:18 “At that time ³²  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 ³³  the warrior’s bow and sword

– that is, every weapon of warfare ³⁴  – from the land,

and I will allow them to live securely.” ³⁵ 

Hosea 12:11

12:11 Is there idolatry ³⁶  in Gilead? ³⁷ 

Certainly its inhabitants ³⁸  will come to nothing! ³⁹ 

Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?

Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

[4:3]  ¹ tn Or “languish” (so KJV, NRSV); NIV “waste away.”

[4:3]  ² tn Heb “the beasts of the field” (so NAB, NIV).

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB, NRSV “people of Israel.”

[4:1]  ⁴ tn The noun רִיב (riv, “dispute, lawsuit”) is used in two contexts: (1) nonlegal contexts: (a) “dispute” between individuals (e.g., Gen 13:7; Isa 58:1; Jer 15:10) or (b) “brawl; quarrel” between people (e.g., Exod 17:7; Deut 25:1); and (2) legal contexts: (a) “lawsuit; legal process” (e.g., Exod 23:3-6; Deut 19:17; 21:5; Ezek 44:24; Ps 35:23), (b) “lawsuit; legal case” (e.g., Deut 1:12; 17:8; Prov 18:17; 25:9), and (c) God’s “lawsuit” on behalf of a person or against his own people (Hos 4:1; 12:3; Mic 6:2; HALOT 1225-26 s.v. רִיב). The term in Hosea refers to a covenant lawsuit in which Yahweh the suzerain lodges a legal case against his disobedient vassal, accusing Israel and Judah of breach of covenant which will elicit the covenant curses.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the inhabitants of the land” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “against the inhabitants of the land.”

[4:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “there is no truthfulness nor loyalty nor knowledge of God in the land.” Here “knowledge of God” refers to recognition of his authority and obedience to his will.

[10:5]  ⁷ tc The MT reads the singular construct noun שְׁכַן (shÿkhan, “the inhabitant [of Samaria]”), while the LXX and Syriac reflect the plural construct noun שְׁכַנֵי (shÿkhane, “the inhabitants [of Samaria]”). The singular noun may be a collective referring to the population of Samaria as a whole (BDB 1015 s.v. שָׁכֵן; e.g., Isa 33:24). Most English translations view this as a reference to the inhabitants of the city as a whole (KJV, RSV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJPS, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[10:5]  ⁸ tc The MT reads יָגוּרוּ (yaguru, Qal imperfect 3rd person common plural from III גוּר, gur, “to dread”; see BDB 159 s.v. III גוּר 1). This reading is followed by most English versions but is syntactically awkward because III גוּר (“to dread”) is used nowhere else with the preposition לְ (lamed, “they are in dread for…”?). BDB suggests reading יָנוּדוּ (yanudu, Qal imperfect 3rd person common plural from נוּד, nud, “to lament”; BDB 626 s.v. נוּד 2.a) which harmonizes better with the parallelism with אָבַל (’aval, “to mourn”) in the following line. The verb נוּד (“to lament”) is used with the preposition לְ in the idiom “to lament for” (e.g., Isa 51:19; Jer 15:5; 16:5; 48:17; Nah 3:7). This involves simple orthographic confusion between ג (gimel) and נ (nun), as well as ר (resh) and ד (dalet) which were often confused by the scribes.

[10:5]  ⁹ tc The MT reads the plural לְעֶגְלוֹת (lÿ’eglot, “for the calves”), while some Greek versions (LXX, Theodotion) and the Syriac reflect the singular לְעֵגֶל (“for the calf [calf idol]”). The singular reading is preferred on the basis of internal evidence: the oracle denounces the calf idol worship of Samaria. The plural form probably arose due to the ambiguity of the term “calf” when a scribe did not realize that the term was being used as a metonymy for the worship of the Egyptian calf goddess. Most recent English versions adopt the singular form and relate it to the calf goddess cult (RSV, NASB, NIV, NCV, NJPS, TEV, CEV, NLT); however, older English versions follow the MT plural (KJV, ASV).

[10:5]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the place name Beth Aven in 4:15.

[10:5]  ¹¹ tc The MT appears to read יָגִילוּ (yagilu, “they will rejoice”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from גִּיל, gil, “to rejoice”), but this is likely an example of semantic polarization. See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 556-67. The BHS editors propose the reading יְיֵלִילוּ (yÿyelilu, “they will lament”; Hiphil imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from יָלַל, yalal, “to lament”), which also appears in Hos 7:14. If this reading is original, the textual variant may be attributed to: (1) orthographic confusion between ל (lamed) and ג (gimel), and (2) haplography or dittography of י (yod). English versions are split; some follow the MT (KJV, ASV, NIV, NJPS), others the proposed emendation (RSV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[10:5]  ¹² tc This line division follows the MT rather than the line division suggested by the BHS editors.

[10:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “from it” (so NAB, NRSV).

[14:7]  ¹⁴ tn Hosea uses the similar-sounding terms יָשֻׁבוּ יֹשְׁבֵי (yashuvu yoshve, “the dwellers will return”) to create a wordplay between the roots שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) and יָשַׁב (yashav, “to dwell; to reside”).

[14:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they will cause the grain to live” or “they will revive the grain.” Some English versions treat this as a comparison: “they shall revive as the corn” (KJV); “will flourish like the grain” (NIV).

[3:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and you will not be for”; NIV “be intimate with.”

[3:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB “people of Israel” (likewise in the following verse).

[12:9]  ¹⁸ sn The Lord answers Ephraim’s self-assertion (“I am rich!”) with the self-introduction formula (“I am the Lord your God!”) which introduces judgment oracles and ethical instructions.

[12:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “[Ever since you came] out of Egypt”; CEV “just as I have been since the time you were in Egypt.”

[12:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “as in the days of meeting” (כִּימֵי מוֹעֵד, kime mo’ed). This phrase might refer to “time of the festival” (e.g., Hos 2:13; 9:5; cf. NASB, NRSV, NLT) or the Lord’s first “meeting” with Israel in the desert (cf. NAB, TEV, CEV). In his announcements about Israel’s future, Hosea uses “as in the days of […]” (כִּימֵי) or “as in the day of […]” (כְּיוֹם, kÿyom) to introduce analogies drawn from Israel’s early history (e.g., Hos 2:5, 17; 9:9; 10:9).

[9:13]  ²¹ tc The MT is corrupt in 9:13. The BHS editors suggest emending the text to follow the LXX reading. See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:250-51.

[10:15]  ²² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[10:15]  ²³ tn Heb “when the dawn is cut off” or “when the day ceases.” Cf. NLT “When the day of judgment dawns.”

[10:15]  ²⁴ tn The root דָמָה (damah, “to be cut off, cease to exist, be destroyed”; BDB 198 s.v. דָמָה; HALOT 225 s.v. דמה) is repeated in the Hebrew text. The form נִדְמֹה (nidmoh, Niphal infinitive absolute) appears in the first colon, and the form נִדְמָה (nidmah, Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular) appears in the second colon. This striking repetition creates a dramatic wordplay which, for stylistic reasons, cannot be reproduced in English translations: “The moment the dawn ceases to exist (i.e., at the break of dawn), the king of Israel will cease to exist.”

[1:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “sons” (twice in this verse, so NASB); KJV, ASV “children”; NIV, NRSV, TEV “people.”

[1:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “head” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[1:11]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Or “For” (so NASB); NCV “because”; TEV “Yes.”

[4:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “by guarding harlotry.” The present translation assumes that the first word of v. 11 in the Hebrew text is to be taken with the infinitive at the end of v. 10 (so also NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV).

[8:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “How long will they be able to be free from punishment?” This rhetorical question affirms that Israel will not survive much longer until God punishes it.

[11:11]  ³¹ tn For the meaning of חָרַד (harad, “to tremble”) with prepositions of direction, see 11:10 above.

[2:18]  ³² tn Heb “And in that day” (so KJV, ASV).

[2:18]  ³³ tn Heb “I will break”; NAB “I will destroy”; NCV “I will smash”; NLT “I will remove.”

[2:18]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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).

[12:11]  ³⁶ tn The noun אָוֶן (’aven) has a broad range of meanings which includes: (1) “wickedness, sin, injustice” (2) “deception, nothingness,” and (3) “idolatry, idolatrous cult” (HALOT 22 s.v. אָוֶן; BDB 19 s.v. אָוֶן). While any of these meanings would fit the present context, the second-half of the verse refers to cultic sins, suggesting that Hosea is denouncing Gilead for its idolatry. Cf. NLT “Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols.”

[12:11]  ³⁷ tn The introductory deictic particle אִם (’im) functions as an interrogative and introduces an interrogative clause: “Is there…?” (see HALOT 60 s.v. אִם 5; BDB 50 s.v. אִם 2). The LXX assumed that אִם was being used in its more common function as a conditional particle: “If there….”

[12:11]  ³⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the inhabitants of Gilead) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:11]  ³⁹ tn The noun שָׁוְא (shav’, “emptiness, nothing”), which describes the imminent judgment of the people of Gilead, creates a wordplay in Hebrew with the noun אָוֶן (’aven, “nothingness” = idolatry). Because Gilead worshiped “nothingness” (idols), it would become “nothing” (i.e., be destroyed).