Hosea 2:6

The Lord’s Discipline Will Bring Israel Back

2:6 Therefore, I will soon ¹  fence her in ²  with thorns;

I will wall her in ³  so that ⁴  she cannot find her way. ⁵ 

Hosea 2:14

Future Repentance and Restoration of Israel

2:14 However, in the future I will allure her; ⁶ 

I will lead ⁷  her back into the wilderness,

and speak tenderly to her.

Hosea 5:7

5:7 They have committed treason ⁸  against the Lord,

because they bore illegitimate children.

Soon ⁹  the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.

Hosea 12:12

Jacob in Aram, Israel in Egypt, and Ephraim in Trouble

12:12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram,

then Israel worked ¹⁰  to acquire a wife;

he tended sheep to pay for her.

[2:6]  ¹ tn The deictic particle הִנְנִי (hinni, “Behold!”) introduces a future-time reference participle that refers to imminent future action: “I am about to” (TEV “I am going to”).

[2:6]  ² tn Heb “I will hedge up her way”; NIV “block her path.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “I will wall in her wall.” The cognate accusative construction וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת־גְּדֵרָהּ (vÿgadarti ’et-gÿderah, “I will wall in her wall”) is an emphatic literary device. The 3rd person feminine singular suffix on the noun functions as a dative of disadvantage: “as a wall against her” (A. B. Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, 3, remark 2). The expression means “I will build a wall to bar her way.” Cf. KJV “I will make a wall”; TEV “I will build a wall”; RSV, NASB, NRSV “I will build a wall against her”; NLT “I will fence her in.”

[2:6]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (object followed by negated verb) introduces a clause which can be understood as either purpose or result.

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “her paths” (so NAB, NRSV).

[2:14]  ⁶ tn 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.

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Following the future-time referent participle (מְפַתֶּיהָ, méfatteha) there is a string of perfects introduced by vav consecutive that refer to future events.

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “dealt treacherously against” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “dealt faithlessly”; NLT “betrayed the honor of.”

[5:7]  ⁹ tn The particle עַתָּה (’attah) often refers to the imminent or the impending future: “very soon” (BDB 774 s.v. עַתָּה 1.b). In Hosea it normally introduces imminent judgment (Hos 2:12; 4:16; 5:7; 8:8, 13; 10:2).

[12:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “served” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “earned a wife.”