Hosea 7:14

Footnotes

1. 13 Heb “they do not cry out to me in their heart”; “with sincere hearts.”
2. 14 The reads יִתְגּוֹרָרוּ (yitgoraru) which is either (1) Hitpolel imperfect 3rd person masculine plural (“they assemble themselves”; so , ) from I גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn”; 157 I גּוּר) or (2) Hitpolel imperfect 3rd person masculine plural (“they excite themselves”) from II גּוּר (gur, “to stir up”; 158 II גּוּר). However, the Hebrew lexicographers suggest that both of these options are unlikely. Several other Hebrew preserve an alternate textual tradition of יִתְגּוֹדָדוּ (yitgodadu) which is a Hitpolel imperfect 3rd person common plural (“they slash themselves”) from גָּדַד (gadad, “to cut”; 151 גָּדַד), as also reflected in the (cf. “they lacerated themselves”; , “gash themselves”; “cut themselves.” This reflects the pagan Canaanite cultic practice of priests cutting themselves and draining their blood on the ground to elicit agricultural fertility by resurrecting the slain fertility god Baal from the underworld (Deut 14:1; 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5). Cf. which adds “in the hope that Baal will bless their crops.”