Hosea 5:1-7
Konteks5:1 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites! 1
For judgment is about to overtake you! 4
For you were like a trap 5 to Mizpah, 6
like a net 7 spread out to catch Tabor. 8
5:2 Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter, 9
but I will discipline them all. 10
5:3 I know Ephraim all too well; 11
the evil of 12 Israel is not hidden from me.
For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim;
Israel has defiled itself. 13
5:4 Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God;
because a spirit of idolatry 14 controls their heart, 15
and they do not acknowledge the Lord.
5:5 The arrogance of Israel testifies against it;
Israel and Ephraim will be overthrown 16 because 17 of their iniquity.
Even Judah will be brought down 18 with them.
5:6 Although they bring their flocks and herds 19
to seek 20 the favor of the Lord, 21
They will not find him –
he has withdrawn himself from them!
5:7 They have committed treason 22 against the Lord,
because they bore illegitimate children.
Soon 23 the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.
[5:1] 1 tn Heb “O house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “all of Israel’s leaders.”
[5:1] 2 tn Heb “Use the ear”; ASV “give ear.”
[5:1] 3 tn Heb “O house of the king” (so KJV); NIV “O royal house.”
[5:1] 4 tn Heb “for the judgment is to you”; or “For this accusation is against you.” Cf. NIV “This judgment is against you.”
[5:1] 5 sn The noun פַּח (pakh, “trap”) is used (1) literally of a bird-trap, used in similes and metaphors (Amos 3:5; Prov 7:23; Eccl 9:12), and (2) figuratively to refer to (a) calamities and plots (Job 18:9; 22:10; Pss 91:3; 119:110; 124:7; 140:6; 141:9; 142:4; Prov 22:5; Isa 24:17-18; Jer 18:22; 48:43-44; Hos 9:8) and (b) a source of calamity (Josh 23:13; Pss 11:6; 69:23; Isa 8:14; Hos 5:1; BDB 809 s.v. פַּח).
[5:1] 6 tn Heb “you were a trap to Mizpah.”
[5:1] 7 sn The noun רֶשֶׁת (reshet, “net”) is used (1) literally of a net used to catch birds (Prov 1:17) and (2) in figurative descriptions of the wicked plotting to ensnare their victims (Prov 29:5; Pss 9:16; 10:9; 25:15; 31:5; 35:7; 57:7; 140:6; Job 18:8; BDB 440 s.v. רֶשֶׁת).
[5:1] 8 tn Heb “and a net spread out over Tabor.”
[5:2] 9 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] 10 tn Heb “but I am discipline to all of them”; ASV “but I am a rebuker of them all.”
[5:3] 11 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] 12 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] 13 tn Or “Israel has become corrupt”; NCV “has made itself unclean”; TEV “are unfit to worship me.”
[5:4] 14 tn Heb “a spirit of harlotries”; NIV “a spirit of prostitution”; TEV “Idolatry has a powerful hold on them.” However, CEV takes this literally: “your constant craving for sex keeps you from knowing me.”
[5:4] 15 tn Heb “is in their heart” (so NIV); NASB, NRSV “is within them.”
[5:5] 16 tn Heb “will stumble” (so NCV, NLT). The verb כָּשַׁל (kashal, “to stumble; to stagger; to totter”) is used figuratively to describe distress (Isa 59:10; Ps 107:12), the debilitating effects of misfortune and calamity (Isa 5:27), and toil in exile (Lam 5:13). It is often used figuratively to describe the overthrow of a people or nation through divine judgment (Isa 8:15; Jer 6:21; 50:32; Hos 4:5; 5:5; 14:2). The Niphal stem used here is also frequently used in reference to divine judgment: “be overthrown,” of nations, armies (Jer 6:15; 8:12; Dan 11:19, 33, 34, 41; BDB 505 s.v. כָּשַׁל 1.b). This figurative use of כָּשַׁל is often used in collocation with נָפַל (nafal, “to fall”; Isa 3:8; 31:3; 8:15; Jer 6:15; Dan 11:19).
[5:5] 17 tn Or “in” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[5:5] 18 tn Heb “will stumble” (so NCV). The term כָּשַׁל (kashal) appeared in the preceding line (Niphal “be overthrown”) and now appears here (Qal “will stumble”). The repetition of כָּשַׁל emphasizes that a similar fate will befall Judah because it failed to learn its lesson from God’s judgment on Israel. The verb כָּשַׁל (“to stumble”) does not describe the moral stumbling of Judah, but the effect of God’s judgment (Isa 8:15; Jer 6:21; 50:32; Hos 4:5; 5:5; 14:2), and the toil of exile (Lam 5:13).
[5:6] 19 sn The terms flocks and herds are used figuratively for animal sacrifices (metonymy of association). Hosea describes the futility of seeking God’s favor with mere ritual sacrifice without the prerequisite moral obedience (e.g., 1 Sam 15:24; Ps 50:6-8; 51:17-18; Isa 1:12; Mic 6:6-8).
[5:6] 20 tn Heb “they go out to seek the
[5:6] 21 tn Heb “the
[5:7] 22 tn Heb “dealt treacherously against” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “dealt faithlessly”; NLT “betrayed the honor of.”
[5:7] 23 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).
