Hosea 1:1b

Footnotes

1. 1 The textual problems in Hosea are virtually unparalleled in the OT. The Masoretic Text (), represented by the Leningrad Codex (c. a.d. 1008), which served as the basis for both and , and the Aleppo Codex (c. a.d. 952), are textually corrupt by all accounts and have a multitude of scribal errors. Many medieval Masoretic preserve textual variants that differ from the Leningrad and Aleppo Codices. The Qumran materials (4QXIIc,d,g) contain numerous textual variants that differ from the ; 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 and the early Greek recensions (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) is mixed; in some places they are inferior to the but in other places they preserve a better reading. The textual apparatus of and contains many proposed emendations based on the ancient versions (Greek, , Latin, Aramaic) that often appear to be superior readings than what is preserved in the . In numerous cases, the 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., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ) adopt (either occasionally or frequently) textual variants reflected in the versions and occasionally adopt conservative conjectural emendations proposed in and/or . 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 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, e.d., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:228–71.
2. 2 Heb “The word of the Lord which was to Hosea.” The words “This is” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3. 3 Heb “in the days of” (again later in this verse). Cf. “during the days of”; “during the reigns of”; “during the years when.”
4. 4 Heb “Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
5. 5 Joash is a variation of the name Jehoash. Some English versions use “Jehoash” here (e.g., , , , ).
6. 6 Heb “Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.”