10:9a–b

Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel, and there you have remained: This verse describes how long the people of Israel have continued to sin.

10:9a

Since the days of Gibeah: the days of Gibeah refers back to a tragic incident in Israel’s past. Gibeah is a city in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Some residents there committed extreme sexual perversion and murder. The people of Gibeah were defiant against the LORD and against the rest of Israel. See Judges 19–20 and Hosea 9:9. The phrase Since the days of Gibeah refers to the time period from that sinful act to the time of Hosea.

Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

Israel, you have sinned since the time of Gibeah (NCV)

Israel, you have sinned ever since the incident at Gibeah (GW)

you have sinned, O Israel: In this context, these words imply that the people of Israel sinned in a way that was similar to the sins of the people of Gibeah.Hubbard (page 176).

O Israel: Here, the LORD, speaking through Hosea, addresses the people of Israel directly.

Here are other ways to translate this expression:

Israel (CEV)

You Israelites

Use a vocative that is natural in your language when a person speaks to a group of people.

The GNT translates this accusation as indirect speech:

The LORD says, “The people of Israel have not stopped sinning against me since the time of their sin at Gibeah. (GNT)

However, indirect speech is not recommended here. Direct address is preferable, since in this situation the LORD is confronting the people, not just speaking about them.

10:9b

and there you have remained: This statement indicates that Israel continued to follow same kind of sinful behavior as the terrible sin committed at Gibeah.Hubbard (page 177), Macintosh (page 411), and Keil (page 86). Another standard meaning of the Hebrew word is “stood” or “took a stand.” If that is the intended meaning here, it may refer to the eleven tribes of Israel that took a stand in battle against the people of Gibeah and the tribe of Benjamin.

Here are some other ways to translate this statement:

You never change (GW)

You have made no progress whatsoever (NLT)

10:9c

Did not the battle in Gibeah overtake the sons of iniquity?: This clause is more literally “not will war overtake them in the gibeah on the sons of injustice.” There are three main interpretations of this clause:

1. A future war will overtake evildoers in Gibeah.Stuart (page 168), Macintosh (page 411), and Hubbard (page 177). For example:

   Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah? (NRSV) (CEV, ESV, GW, NASB, NCV, NJB, NJPS, NRSV, REB)

2. A past war overtook evildoers in Gibeah.Andersen and Freedman (page 564). For example:

   Did not war overtake the evildoers in Gibeah? (NET) (BSB, NET, NIV, NLT)

3. A war did not overtake evildoers in Gibeah.McComiskey (page 171) and Keil (page 86). For example:

   the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. (KJV) (KJV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions and a slight majority of commentaries. It is the most accepted way to understand the difficult Hebrew text.In all three interpretations, Gibeah/hills symbolize moral depravity in Israel. All three interpretations imply that a future war will be fought against the moral depravity in Israel. It will be analogous to the past war fought in Gibeah. Interpretation (1) states this most directly. Interpretation (2) implies it by way of comparison with the past war in Gibeah. Just as the sins in Gibeah resulted in war in the past, so too the sins of Israel will result in a future war. Interpretation (3) implies it in a different way. The past war against Gibeah did not eradicate moral depravity. The people of Israel continued to sin in similar ways. In Hosea’s time a war against the moral depravity of Israel had not yet been fought. But it will come.

Here are some ways to translate this clause:

• As a rhetorical question. The expected answer is “yes.” For example:

  Will not war overtake them in Gibeah? (REB)

• As a statement. For example:

  War will overtake the wicked people in Gibeah. (GW)

  But war will surely overwhelm them in Gibeah, because of the evil they have done there. (NCV)The NCV shows an alternative understanding of two Hebrew words. The Hebrew word for “not” is understood here to be a particle meaning, “surely” or “indeed.” Thus instead of saying, “will not war overwhelm them” it is, “war will surely overwhelm them.” For more detail see Andersen and Freedman (page 564) and Hubbard (page 177). Secondly, the Hebrew word for “against” is understood here to indicate, “because of.” Thus, instead of saying a war is “against evildoers” it is a war “because of the evil they have done there.” See Hubbard (page 177).

overtake: The Hebrew word here means to “catch up to” or to “take hold upon” something or someone.TWOT (#1422). Here are other ways to translate this word:

overwhelm them (NCV)

catch up with them (GNT)

will soon experience

the sons of iniquity: The Hebrew phrase is literally, “sons of injustice.” The Hebrew word for “injustice” means to act contrary to what is right.TWOT (#1580b). The Hebrew word in the Masoretic text has two letters transposed. That word is unknown. But other Hebrew manuscripts have this word, so most scholars assume that this is the correct word here. See Macintosh (page 412). Here the expression refers to people that are as evil as those at Gibeah.

in Gibeah: The word “gibeah” literally means “hills.” Here the word Gibeah is probably a word play. It refers both to the city of Gibeah and also to the hills that Hosea calls “high places” in 10:8a, where the Israelites worshiped idols.If so, this would be similar to the word play on Jezreel in 1:11d and 2:22–23. This understanding is supported by Stuart (page 168) who suggests that Gibeah may be a double-entendre, which could be translated as “in the hills.” Also Hubbard (page 176) suggests that the accusation, “you have sinned,” together with the name Gibeah itself which means ‘hill,’ serves to connect v 9 to v 8, where Bethel is called the sin of Israel and the hills are summoned to fall on the Israelites.

It is recommended that you add a footnote to explain the meaning. For example:

Gibeah means “hills.” See Hosea 10:8.