HOS 2:13 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:2–13: The LORD promised to punish the people of Israel

In this section, the LORD described the crisis that resulted from Israel being unfaithful to him by following other gods. He warned Israel about the punishment that he would inflict on them if they continued their unfaithfulness. There is a sharp contrast between the negative tone in this section and the positive tone in the previous one.

The first words of this section seem to be a command by Hosea to his children. He commanded them to rebuke their mother (2:2a). However, the words “declares the LORD” in 2:13c indicate that the LORD is the speaker throughout this section. The reason for this double reference is that this section has both literal and figurative meanings. Literally, it applies to the relationship between Hosea, his wife Gomer, and their children. Figuratively, it expresses the relationship between the LORD and Israel. In a complex metaphor, the nation of Israel is compared to the LORD’s wife. At the same time, the entire nation of Israel is compared to a mother, and the individual Israelites that made up the nation are compared to her children.Andersen and Freedman (pages 219–220) and Wood (page 175).

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The LORD’s future punishment of Israel

Israel is the Lord’s unfaithful wife (GW)

Unfaithful Gomer—Unfaithful Israel (GNT)

Paragraph 2:8–13

In this paragraph, Hosea continues to use the image of an adulterous wife to represent the unfaithful nation of Israel. The LORD will punish the Israelites for their worship of the false god Baal. They trusted Baal to provide for their needs instead of trusting the LORD. Similarly, Hosea will punish Gomer, because she was unfaithful to him.

The notes and translation advice in this paragraph focus mainly on the way that the LORD intends to punish Israel. So you may want to add a footnote to remind your readers that this paragraph also refers to the way that Hosea will punish his wife Gomer.

2:13a–b

Notice the parallelism in this verse:

^13aI will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them,

^13b when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,”

Both lines describe the sins for which the LORD will punish Israel. Verse 2:13a describes Israel’s attempts to please Baal by offering incense to him.It is also possible that Gomer burned incense to Baal when she engaged in prostitution (Andersen and Freedman, page 258). Verse 2:13b describes this spiritual adultery in terms of a woman’s attempts to attract her lovers by wearing jewelry.

2:13a

I will punish her for the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them,

I will punish her because she burned incense to Baal on the feast days.
I will punish her for all the times/days when she worshiped the Baal idols and burned incense to them.

the days of the Baals when she burned incense to them: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “the days of the Baals when she made smoke to them.” There are two main ways that English versions translate this phrase. Either way is acceptable:

As specific festival days for Baal. For example:
the festival days of the Baals, when she offered incense to them. (NRSV)
As unspecific times, whenever people worshiped Baal. These times included the feast days for Baal, but may have included other times also. The BSB above is one example. Another example is the GNT:
the times that she forgot me, when she burned incense to Baal. (GNT)

the Baals: Baal was the name of the main Canaanite god. The Hebrew word here is plural. The plural form may indicate multiple Baal shrinesStuart on Hosea 2:13[15]. dedicated to different local Baal gods.Macintosh (page 66). However, it is also possible that the plural form refers to just one Baal. So English versions translate this term in two ways. Either way is acceptable:

As plural Baals. This is how the BSB and most English versions have translated it.
As singular “Baal.” This is how the GNT has translated it.

2:13b

when she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers. But Me she forgot,”

At those times, she decorated herself with her nose-ring/earrings and other jewelry to attract her lovers, but she intentionally forgot me!”
She put on rings and jewelry. She did everything she could to persuade her lovers, the Baal gods, to give her their benefits. But as for me, she decided to forget me.”

she decked herself with rings and jewelry: The verb decked indicates here that the woman put on rings and jewelry in order to make herself look attractive.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

she put on her rings and jewelry (NCV)

rings: In Hebrew, this word can refer to either rings, “earrings,” or “nose-ring.” Any of these terms is acceptable.

and went after her lovers: See how you translated her lovers in 2:12a.

But Me she forgot: The BSB translates the Hebrew conjunction used here as But. In this context, there is a contrast between Israel pursuing lovers but forgetting the LORD. So “but” is an appropriate translation. Some versions leave this conjunction implied. Use a natural way in your language to express this contrast.

In Hebrew, the word order of the pronoun Me within this clause gives it strong emphasis. The BSB shows this emphasis by using the word order Me she forgot instead of the more common English word order “she forgot me.” Another way that English versions show this emphasis is by using an exclamation mark. For example:

but she forgot me! (NET)

Use a natural way in your language to express this emphasis.

2:13c

declares the LORD.

This is Yahweh’s message to you^(sing/plur).
I, Yahweh, have said this to you.

declares the LORD: This phrase is literally “the utterance/oracle of the LORD.” This phrase emphasizes that the prophet’s message was directly from the LORD.

Here are some other ways to translate it:

The Lord has spoken (GNT)

I, the Lord, have spoken (CEV)

This is the word of the Lord (REB)

You should determine the best way to say this in your language.

General Comment on 2:13a–c

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder some of these verse parts. For example:

^13aI will punish her for all the times ^13bshe deserted me, ^13awhen she burned incense to her images of Baal, ^13bput on her earrings and jewels, and went out looking for her lovers,” ^13csays the Lord. (NLT)

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear HOS 2:13

Hebrew word order