Hosea 12:9-11

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Hosea 12:9 sn The Lord answers Ephraim’s self-assertion (“I am rich!”) with a self-introduction formula (“I am the Lord your God!”) that introduces judgment oracles and ethical instructions.
2. Hosea 12:9 tn Or “[Ever since you came] out of Egypt”; cf. CEV “just as I have been since the time you were in Egypt.”
3. Hosea 12:9 tn Heb “as in the days of meeting” (כִּימֵי מוֹעֵד, kime moʿed). This phrase might refer to “time of the festival” (e.g., Hos 2:13; 9:5; cf. NASB, NRSV, NLT) or the Lord’s first “meeting” with Israel in the desert (cf. NAB, TEV, CEV). In his announcements about Israel’s future, Hosea uses “as in the days of […]” (כִּימֵי) or “as in the day of […]” (כְּיוֹם, k^eyom) to introduce analogies drawn from Israel’s early history (e.g., Hos 2:5, 17; 9:9; 10:9).
4. Hosea 12:10 tn Heb “I myself multiplied vision[s]”; cf. NASB “I gave numerous visions.”
5. Hosea 12:10 tn There is debate whether אֲדַמֶּה (ʾadammeh, Piel imperfect first person common singular) is derived from I דָמָה (damah, “similitude, parable”) or II דָמָה (“oracle of doom”). The lexicons favor the former (BDB 198 s.v. I דָּמָה 1; HALOT 225-26 s.v. I דמה). Most translators favor “parables” (cf. KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV, NJPS), but a few opt for “oracles of doom” (cf. NRSV, TEV, CEV).
6. Hosea 12:10 tn Heb “by the hand of”; cf. KJV, ASV “by the ministry of.”
7. Hosea 12:11 tn The noun אָוֶן (ʾaven) has a broad range of meanings that include: (1) “wickedness, sin, injustice” (2) “deception, nothingness,” and (3) “idolatry, idolatrous cult” (HALOT 22 s.v. אָוֶן; BDB 19 s.v. אָוֶן). While any of these meanings would fit the present context, the second-half of the verse refers to cultic sins, suggesting that Hosea is denouncing Gilead for its idolatry (cf. NLT “Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols”).
8. Hosea 12:11 tn The introductory deictic particle אִם (ʾim) functions as an interrogative and introduces an interrogative clause: “Is there…?” (see HALOT 60 s.v. אִם 5; BDB 50 s.v. אִם 2). The LXX assumed that אִם was being used in its more common function as a conditional particle: “If there….”
9. Hosea 12:11 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the inhabitants of Gilead) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10. Hosea 12:11 tn The noun שָׁוְא (shavʾ, “emptiness, nothing”), which describes the imminent judgment of the people of Gilead, creates a wordplay in Hebrew with the noun אָוֶן (ʾaven, “nothingness” = idolatry). Because Gilead worshiped “nothingness” (idols), it would become “nothing” (i.e., be destroyed).