Hosea 4:2
Konteks4:2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.
They resort to violence and bloodshed. 1
Hosea 4:16
Konteks4:16 Israel has rebelled 2 like a stubborn heifer!
Soon 3 the Lord will put them out to pasture
like a lamb in a broad field! 4
Hosea 5:2
Konteks5:2 Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter, 5
but I will discipline them all. 6
Hosea 12:3
Konteks12:3 In the womb he attacked his brother;
in his manly vigor he struggled 7 with God.
[4:2] 1 tn Heb “they break out and bloodshed touches bloodshed.” The Hebrew term פָּרַץ (parats, “to break out”) refers to violent and wicked actions (BDB 829 s.v. פָּרַץ 7; HALOT 972 s.v. פרץ 6.c). It is used elsewhere in a concrete sense to describe breaking through physical barriers. Here it is used figuratively to describe breaking moral barriers and restraints (cf. TEV “Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another”).
[4:16] 2 tn The Hebrew verb “has rebelled” (סָרַר, sarar) can also mean “to be stubborn.” This is the same root used in the simile: “like a stubborn (סֹרֵרָה, sorerah) heifer.” The similarity between Israel and a stubborn heifer is emphasized by the repetition of the same term.
[4:16] 3 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).
[4:16] 4 tn Or “How can the
[5:2] 5 tc The MT reads וְשַׁחֲטָה שֵׂטִים הֶעְמִיקוּ (vÿshakhatah setim he’miqu): “and rebels have made deep the slaughter.” The BHS editors propose ושַׁחַת הַשִּׁטִּים הֶעְמִיקוּ (vÿshakhat hashittim he’miqu): “they have made the pit of Shittim [place of idolatry] deep” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT; see BDB 1006 s.v. שַׁחֲטָּה). This involves: (1) phonological confusion between the similar sounding consonants ת (tav) and ט (tet), (2) redivision of words to take ה (hey) as the article with הַשִּׁטִּים rather than feminine noun ending of וְשַׁחֲטָה, and (3) revocalization of הַשִּׁטִּים with the two daghesh fortes. Retaining the reading of the MT is preferable here.
[5:2] tn Heb “and those who revolt have gone deep into slaughter” (similar KJV, NIV); NASB “deep in depravity.”
[5:2] 6 tn Heb “but I am discipline to all of them”; ASV “but I am a rebuker of them all.”
[12:3] 7 tn The verb שָׂרָה (sarah) means “to strive, contend” (HALOT 1354 s.v. שׂרה) or “persevere, persist” (BDB 975 s.v. שָׂרָה; see Gen 32:29). Almost all English versions render the verb here in terms of the former: NAB, NASB “contended”; NRSV “strove”; TEV, CEV “fought against.”