HOS 6:5 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 6:4–7:16: The people persisted in their sins

In this section, the LORD again spoke to the people of Israel and Judah. In contrast to the people’s future repentance (6:1–3), he gave examples of their current disloyalty and corruption, including their reliance on other nations instead of him. They continued to commit sins, and they refused to seek him. He announced that he would judge them, and he illustrated his coming judgment in various ways.

In this section, the Hebrew text sometimes uses second person pronouns (“you”) and sometimes third person pronouns (“they” or “he”) to refer to the people of Israel. The BSB follows the Hebrew pronoun usage. It uses “they” in 6:5–10, “you” in 6:4 & 11, and “they” or “he” in 7:1–16. Throughout these verses the LORD is the speaker, and he either addresses the people directly or speaks about them.

English versions all use “you” in 6:11 and “they” in chapter 7, but they differ in the way they use the pronouns in 6:5–10. You should use the most natural and least confusing way in your language to handle the pronouns in 6:5–10. In 6:7–10, the Display will follow the BSB pronoun choice in the first meaning line and give another pronoun choice in the second meaning line. See the note on “you” in 2:16b–c, where the pronoun changes are similar.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Transitory Faithfulness and Imminent Judgment (NET)

Impenitence of Israel and Judah (NRSV)

Paragraph 6:4–6

This paragraph contrasts with the previous one (6:1–3). That paragraph described a time when the people would truly repent. Here in 6:4–6, the LORD told the people of Israel and Judah how unreliable their love was. He expressed his despair over the way that the people truly behaved. He also told them what he desired from them.

In some languages, it may be helpful to make explicit the contrast between this paragraph and 6:1–3. For example:

But you, Ephraim, What am I to do with you?

Yet you people of Ephraim do not seek to know me. What can I do with you?

6:5a–c

This verse describes the result of the people’s undependable love described in 6:4. Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^5aTherefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

^5b I have slain them by the words of My mouth,

^5cand my judgments go forth like lightning.This shows one way that 6:5c may be parallel to 6:5a and 6:5b. Another possibility is that the phrase “My judgments” in 6:5c is parallel with “I have hewn them” in 6:5a and “I have slain them” in 6:5b.

In this verse, the LORD told the people how he responded to their lack of love. He disciplined them severely.

The historical context indicates that he disciplined the people many times over a period of many years. Some English versions use past tense verbs here to allow this understanding. However, the Hebrew verbs in this verse have imperfect tense/aspect, which commonly indicates a present or future time reference.

Translate this in a natural way in your language to indicate it happened regularly over a long period of time and will continue to happen.

Verse 6:4 used the second person pronoun “you” to refer to Ephraim and Judah. In that verse, the LORD addressed the people directly. Here in 6:5, the pronoun changes from “you” to “them.” See the summary of Section 6:4–7:16 above for more information.

6:5a

Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

So I caused you^(plur) to die through the words of my prophets.
That is why I have sent my prophets to say that I would punish you with death.

Therefore: In Hebrew and in some English versions, this verse begins with a word that indicates result. For example:

That’s why I slaughtered you with the words of my prophets. (CEV)

Some versions do not introduce the verse with a specific word here. Instead, they let the context imply the relationship between the previous verse and this one. For example:

I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—to slaughter you with my words (NLT)

Use a natural way in your language to indicate that the LORD’s actions here in 6:5 are the result of the people’s undependable love in 6:4.

I have hewn them by the prophets: This clause is a figure of speech that compares the LORD’s prophets to instruments of death. It means that the words the LORD spoke through his prophets announced his judgment against the people. His judgment was a death sentence. The clause does not mean that the LORD used his prophets to literally cut people in pieces.

6:5a–b

(combined/reordered)

Because you^(plur) are like that, I repeatedly sent my prophets to tell you that I would judge and destroy you.

6:5b

I have slain them by the words of My mouth,

They spoke to you^(plur) my words of judgment that destroyed you.
They repeatedly warned you that I would destroy you.

I have slain them by the words of My mouth: The figure of speech in this clause is similar to the previous clause. It means that the words the LORD spoke through his prophets announced his judgment of death against the people. It is left implied that the phrase the words of My mouth are words that the LORD spoke through his prophets.

General Comment on 6:5a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine the parallel lines. It may also be clearer to translate the nonfigurative meaning. For example:

I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. (GNT)

I have warned you by my prophets that I will kill you and destroy you. (NCV)

6:5c

and My judgments go forth like lightning.

The arrival of my judgment will be like the light.
I will punish you^(plur) as certainly as the dawn comes.

and My judgments go forth like lightning: This clause is a simile.There is a textual issue here: (1) The LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Aramaic Targum have "my judgment goes forth like light.“ (2) The Hebrew MT has ”and your judgments [are] light [which] goes forth.” It is recommended that you follow the LXX here along with HOTTP, most commentaries and English versions. The plural subject “your judgments” in the MT does not fit the singular verb “goes forth.” For more details, see Andersen and Freedman (page 429), Hubbard (page 127), Keil (page 99), McComiskey (pages 91–92), and the NET footnote. It compares the way that the LORD’s judgment goes forth to lightning.

In Hebrew, the word the BSB translates here as lightning can refer to the light of day, dawn, lightning, or a lamp, among other things. The way in which the LORD’s judgment is similar to light is not obvious. There are at least three interpretations:

The simile indicates that the LORD’s judgment will certainly occur. For example:
My judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night. (NLT96) (NET, NLT96, NLT)
The simile indicates that the LORD’s judgment/justice is clear and obvious for all to see. For example:
My justice comes out like bright light. (NCV) (GNT, NCV)It is possible that the NJB (“my sentence will blaze forth like the dawn”) and the CEV (“my judgments blazed like the dawning sun”) follow this interpretation, but the implication of these similes is not clear in English. Scholars who support interpretation (2) understand the point of similarity to be “brilliance and pervasiveness” (McComiskey, pages 91–92), “clear” (Pusey, page 66), or “public recognition” (Davies, page 168).
The simile indicates that the LORD’s judgment destroys people. For example:
My judgments flashed like lightning upon you. (NIV) (NIV)

Most versions leave the similarity between judgment and light implicit. For example:

and my judgment goes forth as the light (NRSV)

It is recommended that you translate in a way that allows your readers to understand more than one point of similarity. If you need to make the similarity between judgment and lightning/light explicit, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This interpretation is similar to 6:3c, which compares the LORD’s coming to the certainty of dawn.

Here is another way to translate this interpretation:

I will punish you as certainly as the arrival of the dawn/daylight.

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 6:5

Hebrew word order