Hosea 2:8–17

Footnotes

1. 25 Or “For” (so , ); or “But” (so ).
2. 26 The phrase “until now” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
3. 27 Heb “she does not know” (so , ); or “she does not acknowledge.”
4. 28 The 1st person common singular independent personal pronoun אָנֹכִי (’anokhi, “I”) is emphatic, since the subject of this verbal clause is already explicit in the verb נָתַתִּי (natatti, Qal perfect 1st person common singular: “I gave”).
5. 29 The phrase “that it was I who” does not appear in the Hebrew text here, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
6. 30 The third person plural here is an obvious reference to the Israelites who had been unfaithful to the Lord in spite of all that he had done for them. To maintain the imagery of Israel as the prostitute, a third person feminine singular would be called for; in the interest of literary consistency this has been supplied in some English translations (e.g., , , , ).
7. 31 Heb “for Baal” (so , , ); cf. “in the worship of Baal.”
8. 32 Heb “I will return and I will take.” The two verbs joined with vav conjunction form a verbal hendiadys in which the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense ( §120.d, h): אָשׁוּב וְלָקַחְתִּי (’ashuv vélaqakhti) means “I will take back.”
9. 33 Heb “in its time” (so , ).
10. 34 Heb “in its season” (so , , ).
11. 35 The words “which I had provided” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. “intended to cover.”
12. 36 Heb “to cover her nakedness” (so and many other English versions); “for clothing.” This announcement of judgment is extremely ironic and forcefully communicates poetic justice: The punishment will fit the crime. The Israelites were literally uncovering their nakedness in temple prostitution in the Baal fertility cult rituals. Yahweh will, in effect, give them what they wanted (nakedness) but not in the way they wanted it: Yahweh will withhold the agricultural fertility they sought from Baal which would lead to nakedness caused by impoverishment.
13. 37 The particle עַתָּה (’attah) often refers to the imminent or the impending future: “very soon” ( 774 עַתָּה 1.b). In Hosea it normally introduces imminent judgment (Hos 2:12; 4:16; 5:7; 8:8, 13; 10:2).
14. 38 Heb “her lewdness” (so , ); , “her shame.”
15. 39 Heb “out of my hand” (so , , ); “save her from my power.”
16. 40 Heb “my wages.” The words “for prostitution” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied for clarity; cf. “gave … as payment for sex.”
17. 41 Heb “I will turn them”; the referents (vines and fig trees) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
18. 42 Heb “the beasts of the field” (so , ); the same expression also occurs in v. 18).
19. 43 Heb “the days of the Baals, to whom she burned incense.” The word “festival” is supplied to clarify the referent of “days,” and the word “idols” is supplied in light of the plural “Baals” (cf. “her images of Baal”).
20. 44 The vav prefixed to a nonverb (וְאֹתִי, vé’oti) introduces a disjunctive contrastive clause, which is rhetorically powerful.
21. 45 The accusative direct object pronoun וְאֹתִי (vé’oti, “me”) is emphatic in the word order of this clause (cf. “but me she forgot”), emphasizing the heinous inappropriateness of Israel’s departure from the Lord.
22. 46 The participle מְפַתֶּיהָ (méfatteha, Piel participle masculine singular + 3rd feminine singular suffix from פָּתָה, patah, “to allure”) following the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “Now!”) describes an event that will occur in the immediate or near future.
23. 47 Following the future-time referent participle (מְפַתֶּיהָ, méfatteha) there is a string of perfects introduced by vav consecutive that refer to future events.
24. 48 Heb “Valley of Achor,” so named because of the unfortunate incident recorded in Josh 7:1–26 (the name is explained in v. 26; the Hebrew term Achor means “disaster” or “trouble”). Cf. , “Trouble Valley.”
25. 49 Heb “door” or “doorway”; cf. “gateway.” Unlike the days of Joshua, when Achan’s sin jeopardized Israel’s mission and cast a dark shadow over the nation, Israel’s future return to the land will be marked by renewed hope.
26. 50 Heb “as in the days of her youth” (so , , ).
27. 51 Heb “as in the day when” (so , ).
28. 52 Heb “And in that day”; “In that coming day.”
29. 53 The reads תִּקְרְאִי (tiqré’i, “you will call”; Qal imperfect 2nd person feminine singular). The versions (, , ) all reflect an alternate of תִּקְרָא לִי (tiqra’ li, “she will call me”; Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ, lamed, + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). This textual variant undoubtedly arose under the influence of לִי תִּקְרְאִי (tiqré’i li) which follows. Most English versions follow the reading of the (, , , , , , ), but some follow the ancient versions and read the 3rd person (“she”, so , , ).
30. 54 There are wordplays on the terms אִישׁ (’ish) and בַּעַל (ba’al) here. The term אִישִׁי (’ishi, “my man, husband”) is a title of affection (Gen 2:23; 3:6, 16) as the counterpart to אִשָּׁה (’ishah, “woman, wife”). The term בַּעְלִי (ba’li, “my lord”) emphasizes the husband’s legal position (Exod 21:3; Deut 22:22; 24:4). The relationship will no longer be conditioned on the outward legal commitment but on a new inward bond of mutual affection and love.
31. 55 The reads תִקְרְאִי לִי (tiqré’i li, “you will call me”; Qal imperfect 2nd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ, lamed, + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). The versions (, , ) all reflect an alternate of תִקְרְא לִי (tiqré’ li, “she will call me”; Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular followed by preposition לְ + 1st person common singular pronominal suffix). This textual variant is related to the preceding textual issue (see preceding note).
32. 56 There is a wordplay on the terms בַּעְלִי (ba’li, “my master”) and הַבְּעָלִים (habbé’alim, “the Baals”) which are derived from the root בַּעַל (ba’al, “master; lord”). This wordplay is especially effective because the term בַּעַל can refer to one’s husband and is also the name of the Canaanite storm god Baal. Referring to a spouse the term normally means “husband; master.” It was a common, ordinary, nonpejorative term that was frequently used in an interchangeable manner with אִישׁ (’ish, “husband; man”). Due to its similarity in sound to the abhorrent Canaanite fertility god Baal, the repentant Israelites would be so spiritually sensitive that they would refrain from even uttering this neutral term for fear of recalling their former idolatry. The purpose of the exile is to end Israel’s worship of Baal and to remove syncretism.
33. 57 The vav consecutive prefixed to וַהֲסִרֹתִי (vahasiroti) “I will remove” (vav consecutive + Hiphil perfect 1st person common singular) introduces an explanatory clause.
34. 58 Heb “the Baals.” The singular term בַּעַל (ba’al) refers to the Canaanite god Baal himself, while the plural form הַבְּעָלִים (habbé’alim) refers to the manifestations of the god (i.e., idols; 127 בָּעַל II.1).
35. 59 Heb “from her mouth.” In the translation this is rendered as second person for consistency.
36. 60 Heb “they will no longer be mentioned by their name.”