Hosea 1:4-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Hosea 1:4 tn Heb “to him.” The referent (Hosea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2. Hosea 1:4 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); cf. NCV “family,” and CEV “descendants.”
3. Hosea 1:4 tn The plural form of דָּם (dam, “blood”) refers to “bloodshed” (BDB 196 s.v. דָּם 2.f). This is an example of a plural of abnormal condition (GKC 400 §124.n). The plural is used to represent natural objects that are found in an unnatural or abnormal condition. The plural is used because the natural object is normally found as a whole or in one unit, but in the abnormal condition the object is found in many parts. Normally, blood is contained as a whole within the body. However, when a brutal murder occurs, blood is shed and literally spilled all over the place (cf. NIV “the massacre”; TEV, CEV, NLT “the murders”).
4. Hosea 1:4 tn Heb “I will take note of the bloodshed of Jezreel against the house of Jehu.”
5. Hosea 1:4 tn Heb “the kingdom of the house of Israel” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6. Hosea 1:4 sn The proper name יִזְרְעֶאל (yizr^eʿeʾl, “Jezreel”) sounds like יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisraʾel, “Israel”). This phonetic wordplay associates the sin at Jezreel with the judgment on Israel, stressing poetic justice.
7. Hosea 1:5 tn Heb “In that day” (so NIV; NAB, NRSV “On that day”).
8. Hosea 1:5 tn Heb “I will break the bow” (so NAB, NRSV). The phrase “break the bow” (וְשַׁבָרְתִּי אֶת־קֶשֶׁת, v^eshavarti ʾet qeshet) is figurative. The term קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”) frequently refers to the warrior’s weapon (2 Sam 22:35; Ps 18:35; Job 20:24; Hos 2:20; Zech 9:10; 10:4). The reference to the warrior’s bow is a synecdoche of specific (bow) for general (military weaponry or power; see HALOT 1155 s.v. קֶשֶׁת 3). The noun קֶשֶׁת is used figuratively for “power” several times (e.g., Gen 49:24; 1 Sam 2:4; Jer 49:35; Job 29:20; Ps 37:15; BDB 906 s.v. 1.e).
9. Hosea 1:6 tn Heb “Then he said”; the referent (the Lord) does not appear in Hebrew but has been specified in the translation for clarity. Many English versions specify the speaker here (KJV “God”; ASV “Jehovah”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “the Lord”).
10. Hosea 1:6 sn The negative particle לֹא (loʾ, “no, not”) and the root רָחַם (rakham, “compassion”) are repeated in 1:6, creating a wordplay between the name Lo-Ruhamah (literally “No-Pity”) and the announcement of divine judgment, “I will no longer have pity on the nation of Israel.”
11. Hosea 1:6 tn Heb “house”; cf. TEV, NLT “the people of Israel.”
12. Hosea 1:6 tn The particle כִּי (ki) probably denotes cause (so NCV, TEV, CEV) or result here (GKC 505 §166.b; BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 3.c).
13. Hosea 1:6 tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasaʾ, “to take away”) frequently denotes “to forgive,” meaning to take away sin (BDB 671 s.v. נָשָׂא 3.c). The construction נָשׂא אֶשָּׂא (nasoʾ ʾesaʾ, “I will certainly take away,” infinitive absolute + imperfect of the same root) repeats the root נָשָׂא for rhetorical emphasis, stressing the divine resolution not to forgive Israel.
14. Hosea 1:6 tn The phrase “their guilt” does not appear in Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The ellipsis of the accusative direct object of נָשׂא אֶשָּׂא (nasoʾ ʾesaʾ, “I will certainly take away”) is an example of brachyology (abbreviation by word omission). The accusative “guilt” must be supplied frequently with נָשַׂא (see BDB 671 s.v. נָשָׂא 3.c; e.g., Num 14:19; Isa 2:9; Ps 99:8). Many recent English versions simplify this to “forgive them” (e.g., NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).