Logos Bible Study

Hosea 2:18–23

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New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel

2:18“At that time61 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 abolish62 the warrior’s bow and sword

—that is, every weapon of warfare63—from the land,

and I will allow them to live securely.”64

2:19I will commit myself to you65 forever;

I will commit myself to you in66 righteousness and justice,

in steadfast love and tender compassion.

2:20I will commit myself to you in faithfulness;

then67 you will acknowledge68 the Lord.”69

Agricultural Fertility Restored to the Repentant Nation

2:21“At that time,70 I will willingly respond,”71 declares the Lord.

“I will respond to the sky,

and the sky72 will respond to the ground;

2:22then the ground will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;

and they will respond to ‘God Plants’ (Jezreel)!73

2:23Then I will plant her as my own74 in the land.

I will have pity on ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah).

I will say to ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), ‘You are my people!’

And he75 will say, ‘You are76 my God!’ ”

Read in Logos
Hosea 2:18: And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.

Footnotes

  1. 61 Heb “And in that day” (so , ).
  2. 62 Heb “I will break”; “I will destroy”; “I will smash”; “I will remove.”
  3. 63 Heb “bow and sword and warfare.” The first two terms in the triad וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה (véqeshet vékherev umilkhamah, literally, “bow and sword and warfare”) are examples of synecdoche of specific (bow and sword) for general (weapons of war, so ). However, they might be examples of metonymy (bow and sword) of association (warfare).
  4. 64 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., , , , ).
  5. 65 Heb “I will betroth you to me” (so ) here and in the following lines. Cf. “I will take you for my wife forever.”
  6. 66 The preposition בְּ (bet), which is repeated throughout 2:19–20 [21–22], denotes price paid ( 90 בְּ III.3; e.g., Ezek 3:14). The text contains an allusion to the payment of bridal gifts. The Lord will impute the moral character to Israel that will be necessary for a successful covenant relationship (contra 4:1).
  7. 67 The vav consecutive on the suffix conjugation verb וְיָדַעַתְּ (véyada’at, “then you will know”) introduces a result clause (cf. , ).
  8. 68 Or “know.” The term יָדַע (yada’, “know, acknowledge”) is often used in covenant contexts. It can refer to the suzerain’s acknowledgment of his covenant obligations to his vassal or to the vassal’s acknowledgment of his covenant obligations to his suzerain. When used in reference to a vassal, the verb “know” is metonymical (cause for effect) for “obey.” See H. Huffmann, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yādaʿ,” 181 (1966): 31–37.
  9. 69 The reads יְהוָה (yéhvah, “the Lord”); however, many Hebrew read כִּי אָנִי (ki ’ani, “that it is I”), as also reflected in the Latin (cf. “know who I am”).
  10. 70 Heb “And in that day”; , “On that day.”
  11. 71 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” ( 772 1.b; ענה 3.b).
  12. 72 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., , , ) use the plural term “heavens” here, which agrees with a plural pronoun (cf. also , “skies”).
  13. 73 Heb “Jezreel.” The use of the name יִזְרְעֶאל (yizré’e’l, “Jezreel”) creates a powerful three-fold wordplay: (1) The proper name יִזְרְעֶאל (“Jezreel”) is a phonetic wordplay on the similar sounding name יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”): God will answer Israel, that is, Jezreel. (2) The name יִזְרְעֶאל (“Jezreel”) plays on the verb זָרַע (zara’, “to sow, plant”), the immediately following word: וּזְרַעְתִּיהָ (uzéra’tiha, vav + Qal perfect 1st person common singular + 3rd person feminine singular suffix: “I will sow/plant her”). This wordplay creates a popular etymology for יִזְרְעֶאל meaning, “God sows/plants,” which fits well into the agricultural fertility imagery in 2:21–23 [2:23–25]. (3) This positive connotation of יִזְרְעֶאל (“Jezreel”) in 2:21–23[23–25] reverses the negative connotation of יִזְרְעֶאל (“Jezreel”) in 1:4–5 (bloodshed of Jehu in the Jezreel Valley).
  14. 74 Heb “for myself.”
  15. 75 The Hebrew text, carrying out the reference to the son born in 1:8–9, uses the third person masculine singular pronoun here; some English translations use third person plural (“they,” so , , , ) in keeping with the immediate context, which refers to reestablished Israel.
  16. 76 The words “You are” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are implied. It is necessary to supply the phrase in the translation to prevent the reader from understanding the predicate “my God” as an exclamation (cf. ).

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.

“And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord,

I will answer the heavens,

and they shall answer the earth,

and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and they shall answer Jezreel,

and I will sow her for myself in the land.

And I will have mercy on No Mercy,

and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;

and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’ ”

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

In that day I will make a covenant for them

with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky

and the creatures that move along the ground.

Bow and sword and battle

I will abolish from the land,

so that all may lie down in safety.

I will betroth you to me forever;

I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,

in love and compassion.

I will betroth you in faithfulness,

and you will acknowledge the Lord.

“In that day I will respond,”

declares the Lord—

“I will respond to the skies,

and they will respond to the earth;

and the earth will respond to the grain,

the new wine and the olive oil,

and they will respond to Jezreel.

I will plant her for myself in the land;

I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’

I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’;

and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

On that day I will make a covenant for them

with the wild animals, the birds of the sky,

and the creatures that crawl on the ground.

I will shatter bow, sword,

and weapons of war in the land

and will enable the people to rest securely.

I will take you to be my wife forever.

I will take you to be my wife in righteousness,

justice, love, and compassion.

I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness,

and you will know the Lord.

On that day I will respond—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

I will respond to the sky,

and it will respond to the earth.

The earth will respond to the grain,

the new wine, and the fresh oil,

and they will respond to Jezreel.

I will sow her in the land for myself,

and I will have compassion

on Lo-ruhamah;

I will say to Lo-ammi:

You are my people,

and he will say, “You are my God.”

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

On that day I will make a covenant

with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky

and the animals that scurry along the ground

so they will not harm you.

I will remove all weapons of war from the land,

all swords and bows,

so you can live unafraid

in peace and safety.

I will make you my wife forever,

showing you righteousness and justice,

unfailing love and compassion.

I will be faithful to you and make you mine,

and you will finally know me as the Lord.

“In that day, I will answer,”

says the Lord.

“I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds.

And the sky will answer the earth with rain.

Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries

of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees.

And they in turn will answer,

‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’

At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites

and raise them for myself.

I will show love

to those I called ‘Not loved.’

And to those I called ‘Not my people,’

I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’

And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’ ”

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

I will make a covenant for them on that day,

with the animals of the field,

with the birds of the heaven, and

with the creeping things of the ground;

the bow, the sword, and the war I will abolish from the land, and I will let them lie down in safety.

And I will take you as my wife forever;

I will take you as a wife for myself in righteousness and in justice,

in steadfast love and in mercy.

I will take you as my wife in faithfulness,

and you will know Yahweh.

On that day I will answer, declares Yahweh,

I will answer the heavens,

and they will answer the earth.

And the earth will answer

the grain, the wine, and the oil,

and they will answer Jezreel.

I will sow her for myself in the land;

I will have pity on Lo-ruhama;

I will say to Lo-ammi,

“You are my people,”

and he himself will say, “you are my God.”

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field,

And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground:

And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth,

And will make them to lie down safely.

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever;

Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment,

And in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness:

And thou shalt know the Lord.

And it shall come to pass in that day,

I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens,

And they shall hear the earth;

And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil;

And they shall hear Jezreel.

And I will sow her unto me in the earth;

And I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy;

And I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people;

And they shall say, Thou art my God.

Public Domain