Hosea 4:12

4:12 They consult their wooden idols,

and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle.

The wind of prostitution blows them astray;

they commit spiritual adultery ¹  against their God.

Hosea 5:3

5:3 I know Ephraim all too well; ² 

the evil of ³  Israel is not hidden from me.

For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim;

Israel has defiled itself. ⁴ 

Hosea 6:4

Transitory Faithfulness and Imminent Judgment

6:4 What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim?

What am I going to do with you, O Judah?

For ⁵  your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; ⁶ 

it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew! ⁷ 

Hosea 7:13

Israel Has Turned Away from the Lord

7:13 Woe to them! For they have fled from me!

Destruction to them! For they have rebelled against me!

I want to deliver ⁸  them,

but they have lied to me.

Hosea 12:14

12:14 But Ephraim bitterly ⁹  provoked him to anger;

so he will hold him accountable for the blood he has shed, ¹⁰ 

his Lord ¹¹  will repay him for the contempt he has shown. ¹² 

Hosea 13:3

13:3 Therefore they will disappear like ¹³  the morning mist, ¹⁴ 

like early morning dew that evaporates, ¹⁵ 

like chaff that is blown away ¹⁶  from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

[4:12]  ¹ tn Heb “adultery.” The adjective “spiritual” is supplied in the translation to clarify that apostasy is meant here.

[5:3]  ² tn The phrase “all too well” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.

[5:3]  ³ tn The phrase “the evil of” does not appear in the Hebrew text here, but is implied by the metonymical (cause-effect) use of the term “Israel.” It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NCV “what they have done is not hidden from me.”

[5:3]  ⁴ tn Or “Israel has become corrupt”; NCV “has made itself unclean”; TEV “are unfit to worship me.”

[6:4]  ⁵ tn The vav prefixed to וְחַסְדְּכֶם (vÿkhasdÿkhem, “your faithfulness”) functions in an explanatory sense (“For”).

[6:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “your faithfulness [so NCV; NASB “your loyalty”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “your love”] is like a morning cloud” (וְחַסְדְּכֶם כַּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר, vÿkhasdÿkhem ka’anan-boqer).

[6:4]  sn The Hebrew poets and prophets frequently refer to the morning clouds as a simile for transitoriness (e.g., Job 7:9; Isa 44:22; Hos 6:4; 13:3; BDB 778 s.v. עָנָן 1.c). For discussion of this phenomena in Palestine, see Chaplin, PEQ (1883): 19.

[6:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “the dew departing early” (BDB 1014 s.v. שָׁכַם); cf. NRSV “the dew that goes away early.” The Hiphil participle מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) means “to depart early” (Gen 19:27; Josh 8:14; Judg 19:9). The idiom means “early morning” (1 Sam 17:16).

[7:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “redeem” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV, TEV “save”; CEV “I would have rescued them.”

[12:14]  ⁹ tn The noun תַּמְרוּרִים (tamrurim, “bitter things”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner, modifying the finite verb: “He bitterly provoked Him to anger” (GKC 375 §118.q). The plural form of the noun functions as a plural of intensity: “very bitterly.” For the adverbial function of the accusative, see IBHS 172-73 §10.2.2e.

[12:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “He will leave his blood upon him”; NIV “will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed.”

[12:14]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[12:14]  ¹² tn Heb “for his contempt” (so NIV); NRSV “for his insults”; NAB “for his outrage.”

[13:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “they will be like” (so NASB, NIV).

[13:3]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase כְּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר (kÿ’anan-boqer, “like a cloud of the morning”) occurs also in Hos 6:4 in a similar simile. The Hebrew poets and prophets refer to morning clouds as a simile for transitoriness (Job 7:9; Isa 44:22; Hos 6:4; 13:3; HALOT 858 s.v. עָנָן 1.b; BDB 778 s.v. עָנָן 1.c).

[13:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like the early rising dew that goes away”; TEV “like the dew that vanishes early in the day.”

[13:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “storm-driven away”; KJV, ASV “driven with the whirlwind out.” The verb יְסֹעֵר (yÿso’er, Poel imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from סָעַר, sa’ar, “to storm”) often refers to the intense action of strong, raging storm winds (e.g., Jonah 1:11, 13). The related nouns refer to “heavy gale,” “storm wind,” and “high wind” (BDB 704 s.v. סָעַר; HALOT 762 s.v. סער). The verb is used figuratively to describe the intensity of God’s destruction of the wicked whom he will “blow away” (Isa 54:11; Hos 13:3; Hab 3:14; Zech 7:14; BDB 704 s.v.; HALOT 762 s.v.).